The three sailors had been stranded for more than a week on Pikelot, a tiny uninhabited island in the Caroline Islands, in the middle of the Pacific. They had been spotted on Sunday by a plane flying over the area and “the crew was able to locate the sailors and dropped a radio to establish communication” The sailors confirmed that they were in good health, that they had access to food and water.
The experienced sailors, all in their forties, claimed to sail regularly in these Pacific waters and were able to be returned to their starting point. The three men expressed the wish to obtain help to return to Polowat, the paradise-looking islet from which they had left, more than 100 nautical miles (more than 185 kilometers) from where they were stranded. The sailors claim to have sailed regularly in this area and were able to return to their starting point and receive their recovery back.