California man’s Hawaii voyage became a monthlong fight for survival

A California man survived more than a month stranded in the Pacific Ocean before he was dramatically rescued last week while attempting a solo voyage to Hawaii, reports say. 

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The sailor, Kaichi Sato, sailed from Long Beach on June 7, according to a news release from Seafarers International Union, a labor organization representing mariners and fishers. 

Sato, 39, told Hawaii News Now that after his mast snapped, he tried to turn his motor on and return to shore, but he ran out of gas. 

“I was literally like a sitting duck, just getting taken south by the current going way off course,” he told the news outlet. 

Sato tried to repair his boat using PVC pipes and kayak paddles, but it took him about a month to reach the shipping route between California and Hawaii, according to Hawaii News Now. Sato ran out of drinking water around July 11, and to survive, he filled buckets with seawater, covered them with plastic bags and licked the condensation that formed. 

Sato told the outlet that he ate only oatmeal and fish and squid that landed on his boat. According to the union, he had to prepare his food in the seawater, and he became severely dehydrated and depressed. 

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On July 21, crews aboard a vessel spotted Sato’s disabled sailboat about 900 miles from Hawaii, the union said. 

The vessel, the M/V George III, then steered toward Sato’s sailboat, and its crew prepared life rings, ropes and other rescue equipment. Once Sato was close enough, the M/V George III’s crew pulled his sailboat close, and Sato was able to climb aboard, the union said. In total, the rescue took about an hour and a half, the union added. 

Sato had encountered “strong winds and rough seas,” the union wrote, which is what caused his mast to snap. The sailors gave Sato a hot meal, which included barbecue food and clean bedding after he was rescued. Seafarers International Union did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment about the rescue. 

Sato told Hawaii News that he is staying with a family member before he leaves for another voyage to the Philippines. Sato could not be reached for comment in time for publication.