Two men whose fishing boat sank Dec. 9 were rescued from a life raft on which they had drifted for nearly a month. They had each carved messages to their families in case they didn't make it.
Richard Enslow Jr., 21, and David Summers, 21, both of Honolulu, were treated and released Monday at Kauai Veterans Hospital on Kauai. They suffered slight dehydration, and Summers had a dislocated shoulder, nurse Sheryl Harris said."We caught every kind of fish to eat and caught rainwater," Summers told reporters before being loaded into the ambulance.
The tent-covered life raft was lashed and tossed by high winds and waves in several strong storms that swept through the islands. It was starting to fall apart.
The 48-foot fishing vessel, Lady Aud, owned by Enslow's father, sank Dec. 9 while en route back to Honolulu. The Coast Guard conducted a five-day air search but couldn't find them.
"It just started sinking and water covered the battery, so we couldn't make any calls. Then we took out the (emergency location transmitter) and it didn't work," Summers said.
"It's really a miracle. I'd really like to know how they did it," said Petty Officer Joseph Ford, a controller at the Coast Guard's Joint Rescue Center in Honolulu. "That is incredible. I guess they just kept their cool and did what they needed to do."