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It was supposed to be a fun-filled trip on the Caribbean Sea for a recently retired Calgary couple seeking adventure in warm climates.

But Loretta Reinholdt and Andy Wasinger never imagined they’d be held up by armed pirates and stranded in a Honduran jungle for four days, surviving on peanut butter, cheese and rain water.

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“This was our first sailing trip. And our last,” said Wasinger on Friday on the phone from Mexico, where the couple is recuperating after being rescued.

Wasinger, 46, a computer programmer, and Reinholdt, 54, a nurse, hired a captain from Belize through a sailing website. They set sail from the Central American nation on March 27, en route to the Honduran island of Roatan.

On the first night, they encountered rough weather and didn’t get much sleep. They decided to anchor closer to shore on the second day.

“We were only half a day from Roatan. But when we got closer to shore, we noticed a fishing boat following us,” said Reinholdt.