The heat of the afternoon and the excitement of the day left us all needing to freshen up. One by one, we took turns with the hose on the foredeck to have a shower. As we finished up and began to discuss a meal option for the evening, I spotted something strange in the distance off our bow. Kerstin took the binoculars forward to have a better look, and Jiorgos altered course to approach.

“I think... I think it’s a life-raft.” Kerstin said rather hesitantly.

I took the binoculars from her to see for myself. It was hard to make out, but I couldn’t disagree. As we approached and the scene became more clear, it became certain that it was an inflatable boat. There seemed to be something erect in the middle with clothes hanging from it, presumably to make some kind of shade. And then, could it be? Yes. Draped over the side was a human arm. When we were a few boat lengths away, the arm came to life, and it’s owner scrambled to his feet quickly followed by two other men. We offered to bring them aboard and give them safe passage to shore but they refused. Kerstin, thinking they might be delirious tried to reason with them in Spanish but they would have no part of it. They refused any and all offerings from us and insisted on being left exactly as they were.

Having done all that we could short of forcefully dragging them aboard, Jiorgos put the engine in gear and we reluctantly resumed our passage. Some months later, we heard a story about three Mexican refugees arriving on an island in the Pacific. Apparently they were running from one of the cartels. We couldn’t know if they were the same mysterious three that we had encountered, but the tale made us all feel a little better.