Surviving Over A Year Drifting On The Ocean
A Bad Way To Enter The Record Books
José Salvador Alvarenga was getting ready to embark on a 30-hour deep-sea fishing voyage when his friend Ray Perez, who usually sailed with him, had to back out. Alvarenga couldn’t go alone, so he enlisted young and inexperienced Ezequiel Córdoba.
The two of them set sail, unaware one of them wouldn’t see land again for 14 months. The other wouldn’t see land again at all.
A Man Of The Sea
Originally from El Salvador, José Salvador Alvarenga left his daughter with his parents in 2002 and moved to Mexico, where he became a deep sea fisherman.
Before his harrowing ordeal, he hadn’t been in contact with his daughter for eight years.
He Lived In Mexico
By November of 2012, Alvarenga had nearly a decade of experience as a sailor and deep-sea fisherman. He was living in the fishing village of Costa Azul in Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico.
He set out from Costa Azul on November 17, with an unfortunate Ezequiel Córdoba along for the ride.
He Was Desperate To Go
Alvarenga was intent on his latest fishing voyage, so when his friend Ray backed out, he was ready to sail with anyone. That’s how he ended up embarking with a young man he’d never even met before.
They Hadn’t Met
Most people around town knew the 23-year-old Ezequiel Córdoba as the star of local soccer team, but not Alvarenga: The two hadn’t even met before they set sail, and Alvarenga didn’t even know his first mate’s last name.
