Missing Sailor Rescued After 66 Days Lost At Sea

After 66 days spent adrift on the wreckage of his 35 foot sailboat, Louis Jordan has finally been reunited with his family and his survival story is nothing short of incredible. The sailor had been living in his 1950’s sailboat on the docks of a marina in South Carolina when he caught the adventure bug and set out onto the Atlantic for a fishing expedition. But shortly after the trip began, things took a turn for the worst when bad weather tore the mast off his ship and left him stranded on the wreckage with no hope of getting to shore.

Without a mast, the ship was free to capsize repeatedly as Jordan struggled to live partly on its upturned hull. Having always been somewhat of a survivalist, Jordan said he kept himself alive by rationing rainwater he collected in buckets and catching the fish that were attracted to his laundry when he hung it over the side. “I rationed my water to where I had drunk about a pint a day. For such a long a time, I was so thirsty. And I was almost out of water, and everyday I was like, ‘please, God, send me some rain, send me some water,’ begging God, ‘please.’ And finally, right before I ran out of water, finally the conditions were perfect,” Jordan said.

On Jan. 29th, after a week without any word from his son, Jordan’s father reported him missing to the Coast Guard. A search was launched on Feb. 8th but abandoned 10 days later when it failed to turn up any trace of Jordan or his ship. His family feared the worst, but they never gave up hope that they would see Jordan alive and well again. When he was finally spotted by a German freighter 2 months later, the 37 year old was found to be in remarkable condition. He had suffered a broken shoulder in the crash that tore the mast from his ship but was otherwise in good health.