Watch the miraculous moment of rescue off Japan for two women lost at sea for five months
Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiaba, along with their two dogs, were rescued by the US Navy after being lost since May
The moment the two women and their dogs were rescued is captured on video, taken from the deck of a us Navy boat.
The camera wobbles as the motorboat cuts across the ocean, some 1,400km southeast of Japan, toward the lone sailing boat that had been sending distress signals for months after its engine died.
One of the women is on the deck, her arms outstretched. She feverishly blows kisses toward the rescue boat. This is the reaction of someone who had been lost at sea for months.
“They saved our lives,” sailor Jennifer Appel said, according to a news release from the Navy. “The pride and smiles we had when we saw [US Navy] on the horizon was pure relief.”
Appel and Tasha Fuiaba, both from Honolulu, had set sail for the Polynesian island of Tahiti in the spring. But their boat’s engine died in May after a bout of inclement weather. They pressed on, hoping to make it to land by sail, the Navy said. But they soon found themselves lost. Their distress signals went unanswered for months.
On Tuesday, a Taiwanese fishing boat found them. The fishermen alerted the US Coast Guard, and on Wednesday the USS Ashland, a warship operating out of Sasebo, Japan, tracked them down about 10.30am a.m. and dispatched the rescue boat.
Once on board the Ashland, they were assessed by medical staff and given food and lodging arrangements. The Navy said that they will remain on the ship until its next port of call.
Photos distributed by the Navy show the women smiling aboard the warship. Zeus the dog appears in good spirits, if a bit skinny.