438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea
£9.40£10.40 (-10%)
The incredible true survival story of one man’s record-breaking fourteen months lost at sea.
On 17th November, 2012, Salvador Alvarenga left the coast of Mexico for a two-day fishing trip. A vicious storm killed his engine and the current dragged his boat out to sea. The storm picked up and carried him West, deeper into the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Alvarenga would not touch solid ground again for fourteen months. When he was washed ashore on January 30th, 2014, he had drifted over 9,000 miles.
Three dozen cruise ships and container vessels passed nearby. Not one stopped for the stranded fisherman. He considered suicide on multiple occasions – including offering himself up to a pack of circling sharks. But Alvarenga developed a method of survival that kept his body and mind intact long enough for the Pacific Ocean to spit him up onto a remote palm-studded island. Crawling ashore, he was saved by a local couple living in their own private castaway paradise.
Based on dozens of hours of interviews with Alvarenga and his colleagues, search and rescue officials, the medical team that saved his life and the remote islanders who nursed him back to normality, 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin is an epic tale of survival and one man’s incredible story of beating the ultimate odds.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Main Market edition (16 Jun. 2016), Pan |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 300 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 9781509800193 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1509800193 |
| Reading age | 18 years and up |
| Dimensions | 13 x 2.1 x 19.7 cm |
by Dianne Hughes
There were parts of the book when it seemed a bit if a sameness. (No doubt it was much worse for Salvadore Alverengo) but it did keep me reading. Other parts were quite exciting. It is an amazing story of strength and determination.
by N. L. Smith
A really well written book. I don’t usually read this sort of thing but was intrigued as to how anyone can survive so long at sea alone. It takes you from how he became a fisherman, to the terrible times and all the events that happen at sea. Incredible that men on a container ship just waved at him 2,000 miles out at sea. I wondered how these men felt when the story broke. Salvador was tenacious, resourceful and never gave up, such strength. I hope his life is happy.
by Samuel Webster Harris
Seems to be alot of holes and contradictions in this story, the guy looks fresh as a daisy when he lands on the island, not the best written book either.
by Amazon Customer
Couldn’t put it down. What an incredible human being. Highly recommend this book, written brilliantly and full of interesting information
by Silver Lady
Amazing story and appears to be very accurate. Interesting character but I found the author goes a little OTT when talking about how great he was. It grated for me a little but other than that the rest of it was great.
Overall a very enjoyable read and congrats to the author for putting it together.
by Allie
EPIC! Everyone should read this book, it’s one that’s hard to put down. Best book I’ve read for sometime.
An incredible story of one man’s survival at Sea for 438 days. The survivor fought all the odds and had incredible mental and physical strength that is rare in the human spirit What a guy!
Well written and constantly intriguing, I loved this book so much!
by karen Paterson
This book gives a great back story of a man who has escaped his home country in fear of his life and travels to Mexico. He is accepted into a close knit fishing community where he becomes an exceptional fisherman who is hard working, generous and a kind guy who is liked by everyone.
On the fateful day his normal fishing partner was not able to fish with him so he took a lad from the agency, who was inexperienced and young but was all that was available.
So when a storm hits they are heading home when the boat’s motor gives up. They have no anchor to hold them on the spot and they are taken hundreds of miles back out to sea. The miraculous survival story begins.
The book shows it’s not the food and water that is the main issue while trapped at sea for this absurd length of time but the mental strength and will to live.
When he eventually becomes alone he nearly cracks, I loved it when animals seemed to come along and befriend him….a whale stayed with him for a week and then a duck who stayed for some time on the boat.
The story continues when he eventually washes up on foreign shores and then goes on to tell how he copes with physical and mental battle to recover from his ordeal.
A fantastic book I couldn’t put down!
by Allie
I liked how the author gave a snippet to read, which is what convinced me to buy and the rest of the book followed suit. I did find it a little difficult to visualise the characters and keep track with names, but that’s probably my own inability. Definitely a good read, especially considering I rarely read books because there is so much out there that nothing seems to grab my attention.