Stranded sailors' survival tale sounds fishy

OKINAWA, JAPAN — Last week, everyone collectively awww-ed as two women and their dogs were rescued after being stranded at sea for months. But now, eyebrows are being raised because details of the sailors' story just don't add up.

CNN reports that a night after setting off from Hawaii on May 3, Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava encountered a ferocious storm that supposedly broke part their boat's mast and sail, even though no storm systems were spotted in the area that day, or in the days after.

At the end of the first month, another supposed storm killed their engine and left them drifting. They had six forms of communication devices, but all were dead.

The pair apparently had an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon on board, which when activated tells the Coast Guard you need rescuing. And the device was working properly, but for some reason the women didn't think the situation was distressing enough to warrant turning it on.

For people who didn't need saving, they sure were diligent in sending up flares every time they passed a ship or island.

It's both odd and a bit dumb that the two went on a long sea journey just after a week of knowing each other, and with one of them having no sailing experience whatsoever.

Many netizens are now speculating these two might just be in it for publicity, maybe a book and movie deal. Then again, they might just be two inexperienced and overly ambitious sailors who made some very stupid decisions.

In any case, the Coast Guard in Hawaii is looking into it, so we'll hopefully have the 'real' story soon.