Three-Week Drift
p. 97 · Read in the full issue
Four Men Survive
Four men, whose 8-ton motor vessel "Alice" broke down while travelling from Tikehau to Makatea (French Polynesia), were rescued at Mopelia Island early in September after they had drifted about 400 miles in three weeks.
The men left Tikehau on August 23 to take a cargo of fish to Makatea, a distance of 47 miles.
When they failed to arrive at their destination, an unsuccessful sea and air search was made for them, the men being declared lost on August 29.
On September 10, two of the men, Ahi, 55, and Ruru Titapu, 22, who had transferred from the "Alice" to a small canoe six days earlier, reached Mopelia. Next day, in re ponse to a radio call from there to Papeete, the air search was re sumed for the "Alice" and the vessel was found seven or eight miles from Mopelia. Its two occupants, Haititi and Mariki, were not much the worse for their adventure.