NC- Sailor missing 66 days found alive by German freighter off Cape Hatteras

[cuffem]

You have my interest. Why the toenails?

Chances are he has no access to clippers and while fingernails can be chewed off not many chew toenails.I think the mexican man that was adrift for over 100 days said he chewed his fingernails to keep them short and for calcium.
I guess if you are in the water alot they may become soft and can tear easily.Just an idea.

 

[EllieBee]

Chances are he has no access to clippers and while fingernails can be chewed off not many chew toenails.I think the mexican man that was adrift for over 100 days said he chewed his fingernails to keep them short and for calcium.
I guess if you are in the water alot they may become soft and can tear easily.Just an idea.

Wow! Food (ew) for thought.

But I would NEVER have thought of that. It is nice to have input from many different viewpoints.

 

[sonjay]

Why skeptics think a South Carolina sailor lied about being lost at sea for 66 days

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...bout-being-lost-at-sea-for-66-days/?tid=sm_fb

"By the time cameras caught up with him, Jordan, who claims his shoulder was broken when his boat overturned, wore a backpack, declined medical help and showed “no obvious signs of injury"

“After that amount of time at sea, he would have been wobbly on his feet, and yet he seemed to walk perfectly. He says he broke his right shoulder, and yet he didn’t even seem to be guarding that shoulder in the pictures I saw after the rescue. There is a lot that doesn’t add up.”

McCollum told the AP that he examined Jordan’s shoulder during the rescue and noticed “slight bruising” on his right clavicle but that Jordan was moving the arm “fluidly” and without “any sign of pain in his face.”

And this:

Jordan’s two-month ordeal was made stranger by his enthusiastic tales of getting iodine poisoning, sailing through swarms of glowing phosphorescent jellyfish at night and encountering two killer whales “with such beautiful faces, they looked so friendly.”

 

[Hiandmighty]

Yeah, its a little hinky. I'm waiting to see if anyone solves the mystery.

 

[jjenny]

Chances are he has no access to clippers and while fingernails can be chewed off not many chew toenails.I think the mexican man that was adrift for over 100 days said he chewed his fingernails to keep them short and for calcium.
I guess if you are in the water alot they may become soft and can tear easily.Just an idea.

This guy was living on his boat even before he got lost at sea. Boat was his home.
Therefore he likely had whatever it is he needed right there in the boat. So why wouldn't he have access to clippers? Unless you think he never clipped his nails, even before he got lost.

 

[jjenny]

He is in amazingly good condition after being missing so long. So wonderful for Jordan's family, the people who found him and Jordan himself of course!
http://nypost.com/2015/04/03/lost-at-sea-boater-found-after-66-days/

People seem to doubt the story because he looks very healthy now. But apparently before he got lost at sea he was much heavier. He lost a lot of weight during the time he was missing.
So the extra fat likely helped to keep him alive.

 

[Hiandmighty]

I believe he said he lost 50 pounds in 66 days. Geez. Maybe I should try that..... KIDDING

 

[Hiandmighty]

I'm deficient in toe and fingernails so mine would have no discernable growth in 66 days. They peel off as soon as they get any length to them.

Now my daughter... Ooh that would be a wreck if she couldn't trim hers in 66 days.

 

[CoolJ]

Not sure how believable this is but that broken collar bone would be well healed after 66 days. It would basically be back to normal.

 

[Hiandmighty]

I agree. And the backpack he was carrying on his right shoulder appears to not be heavy, like it has clothes in it.

The main problem is the terrible news reporting which initially said he was sitting on his overturned hull for 66 days drinking rain water and catching fish with his hands.

Still, it is a curiousity why he didn't get caught up in the gulf stream and end up half way across the Atlantic.

 

[jjenny]

Not sure how believable this is but that broken collar bone would be well healed after 66 days. It would basically be back to normal.

He self-diagnosed himself and he isn't a doctor. Maybe it wasn't even broken and he just bruised it.

 

[jjenny]

I'm deficient in toe and fingernails so mine would have no discernable growth in 66 days. They peel off as soon as they get any length to them.

Now my daughter... Ooh that would be a wreck if she couldn't trim hers in 66 days.

He was living on the boat even before he got lost. He most likely has nail trimmers in there. Otherwise, did he never trim his nails?

 

[Hiandmighty]

His boat did roll at least twice, so you can imagine some things were lost overboard and given he had a couple of feet of water in the boat when that happened, a small thing like a nail clipper could have been displaced and lost.

On the other than, it could have stayed in its place and he could have been able to trim his nails.

Either/or

 

[EllieBee]

I guess my biggest WTF is that he looks pretty, urm, substantial in the "after" pics. But I did read he lost quite a bit of weight, so maybe he much larger before?

Still not sure on this one......

 

[shufly]

I was very skeptical about all of it in the beginning. Then I started reading other news accounts and realized he lived on his boat. That answered some of my questions. Read he lost quite a bit of weight which answered a few more questions. However, I still do not buy this story. (1) His demeanor when he was interviewed on the local news was just too laid back. Like it was just another day. No biggie. (2) His mom's reaction was happy but not over the top happy like you would expect. (3) The way he told the story was like he was retelling a horrific story from years and years ago that ended up making him famous and recalling every detail but describing it as exaggerated and almost bragging. I mean the way he describes the boat capsizing while he was asleep is crazy with details. Then the killer whale and jelly fish descriptions. Like he was reminiscing about the good old days. (4) Then you have him losing 50 lbs in 66 days yet he had food on the boat that sustained him for awhile and he says he ate fish he caught. (5) He also had no problem walking. (6) Maybe the shoulder did have time to heal completely but since it wasn't set properly, wouldn't you think it would still be giving him some pain? He didn't favor the shoulder or appear to have any pain in it according the rescuers. I think the guy planned this. I don't think they'll find any trail of him coming back to land and I'm not sure what his original plan was as I don't think he actually planned on the boat capsizing, but I do believe he planned on disappearing for awhile for whatever reason and then claiming he got lost. The fact that the boat overturned just happened to work in his favor. I think there's a lot more to this story but not sure we'll ever find out since he hasn't committed a crime that we know of.

 

[katydid23]

I was very skeptical about all of it in the beginning. Then I started reading other news accounts and realized he lived on his boat. That answered some of my questions. Read he lost quite a bit of weight which answered a few more questions. However, I still do not buy this story. (1) His demeanor when he was interviewed on the local news was just too laid back. Like it was just another day. No biggie. His mom's reaction was happy but not over the top happy like you would expect. The way he told the story was like he was retelling a horrific story from years and years ago that ended up making him famous and recalling every detail but describing it as exaggerated and almost bragging. I mean the way he describes the boat capsizing while he was asleep is crazy with details. Then the killer whale and jelly fish descriptions. Like he was reminiscing about the good old days. Then you have him losing 50 lbs in 66 days yet he had food on the boat and he says he ate fish he caught. He also had no problem walking. Maybe the shoulder did have time to heal completely but since it wasn't set properly, wouldn't you think it would still be giving him some pain? He didn't favor the shoulder or appear to have any pain in it according the rescuers. I think the guy planned this. I don't think they'll find any trail of him coming back to land and I'm not sure what his original plan was as I don't think he actually planned on the boat capsizing, but I do believe he planned on disappearing for awhile for whatever reason and then claiming he got lost. The fact that the boat overturned just happened to work in his favor. I think there's a lot more to this story but not sure we'll ever find out since he hasn't committed a crime that we know of.

His mother was not on tv, that was his stepmother. But you could see how thrilled his father was to see him and how happy he was to hug and kiss his father.

I was skeptical too, at first. But now i understand it better. he had a cabin to hide out in for protection from the elements. And since he lived on the boat, he had some food and drink to last him awhile. Having those few comforts would go a long way to keep him healthy.

There are records of his father calling in to report him missing 2 months ago. And he was found 200 miles out to sea in a remote area with a broken mast and no sails. I don't see how he could have faked that. I think he was an inexperienced sailor who took the baot out in bad weather and barely escaped death. JMO

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

I'm a bit skeptical, still...but it's more b/c of the person I'm 'reading' than the story I'm reading. I'd be interested in knowing more about him and his life prior to the big adventure.

 

[lizzybeth]

So I'm starting to think his story is more believable. I didn't know the sail boat could right itself (or had only partially capsized). I re-watched the video of the helicopter landing at Sentara Norfolk General and he does seem just a tad wobbly and actually trips a little. They also showed an old pic on one of the news sites of him before he left to fish (not sure how long ago it was taken) and he did look a lot heavier. Mostly his weight loss showed in his face and legs.

Sooo, maybe it's true and I apologize for doubting him.

 

[Hiandmighty]

monohull sailboats (as opposed to multihull like catamaran) are designed to right themselves if capsized. His sailboat had a full keel so it was likely pretty quick when it rolled and then righted.

Remember when the football players capsized and only 1 survived on the hull? That was a powerboat so when that one capsized, it stayed upside down (the anchor was attached to coral IIRC).

So while capsized is a correct word to describe what happened to our guy, most people imagine an overturned or sunk boat.

Remember when that girl was trying to sail singlehandedly around the world in her sailboat "wild eyes"? She rolled and was dismasted as well. She also needed rescue.

I 80% believe his story and 20% is holding out just in case.

If his story is true, he really did need rescue. He is very lucky how it turned out.