They survived shark attacks, the loss of their engine and then their main mast during a five-month ordeal lost at sea. Now, two sailors and their dogs are finally safe after being rescued by the US Navy on Wednesday.

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Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiaba ran into trouble during the 2,700-mile journey from Hawaii to Tahiti. After their rescue, they credited the two animals onboard with them with keeping their spirits and said they managed to stay alive because they had packed a water purifier and enough food to last for a year before leaving.

“There is a true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night,” Appel told media from the USS Ashland, which rescued them.

The women, who are both from Honolulu, lost their engine in bad weather in late May but believed they could still reach Tahiti using their sails. But they were left drifting in the ocean when their mast broke, Appel’s mother said after speaking to her on the phone.

Two months into their trip, well after they were scheduled to arrive in Tahiti, the sailors began making distress calls. But there were no vessels close and they were too far out to sea for the signals to be detected on land.

Appel said they sent out a distress signal for 98 days afterwards, but got no response. “It was very depressing and very hopeless, but it’s the only thing you can do, so you do what you can do.”

A group of sharks attacked their boat one night, and a single shark returned a day later, she said. “Both of them, we actually thought it was lights out, and they were horrific. We were just incredibly lucky that our hull was strong enough to withstand the onslaught.”

Asked if they ever thought they might not survive, she said they would not be human if they did not. She credited the two dogs, which she called their companion animals, with keeping their spirits up.

“There is a true humility to wondering if today is your last day, if tonight is your last night,” she said.

The US navy rescued the women on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 900 miles south-east of Japan, well off their planned course, and alerted the US coast guard.

The USS Ashland arrived early the next day, the navy said in a statement released on Thursday.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A sailor greets Zeus the dog with his owner Tasha Fuiaba, left, on the boat deck of the USS Ashland. Photograph: Mass Communication Specialist 3r/AP

“They saved our lives,” said Appel through the navy release. “The pride and smiles we had when we saw [US navy] on the horizon was pure relief.”

They told the navy that they survived because they had packed a water purifier and a plentiful supply of food, mostly dried goods like oatmeal and pasta.

A photo provided by the navy shows Fuiaba smiling as a sailor greets her dog, Zeus, aboard the USS Ashland.

The women received a medical assessment, food and beds aboard the ship, where they will remain until the next port of call, the navy said.

“The US navy is postured to assist any distressed mariner of any nationality during any type of situation,” said Cmdr Steven Wasson, the commanding officer of the USS Ashland.

Appel’s mother told the Associated Press that she never gave up hope that her resourceful daughter would be found.



Joyce Appel, 75, who lives in Houston, said she got a call from her daughter early Thursday morning more than 5 months after they had last spoke.

“She said, ‘Mom?’ and I said, ‘Jennifer!?’ because I hadn’t heard from in like five months,” she said. “And she said ‘yes mom,’ and that was really exciting.”

Jennifer Appel departed on 3 May, her mother said, but her phone was lost overboard the first day she was at sea, and she hadn’t heard from her daughter since.

“Various things on her boat broke, the mast broke and the engine wouldn’t start when she needed power. So she had several problems that caused her to end up drifting in the ocean,” the elder Appel said.

Joyce called the US Coast Guard about a week and half after her daughter left Honolulu, she said. “The Coast Guard, in Hawaii, did a search and rescue effort,” she said.

“I waited and waited and waited to see when I would hear from her.” In that time, the elder Appel moved and got a new phone number and was worried her daughter wouldn’t know where to call. “I knew she didn’t even know the phone number here,” she said.

“I had hope all along, she is very resourceful and she’s curious and as things break she tries to repair them, she doesn’t sit and wait for the repairman to get there, so I knew the same thing would be true of the boat.”

The mother said the pair’s water purifier had stopped working and they were down to their last gallon of water when Jennifer got it fixed.