Alvarenga

He left El Salvador in 2002 for Mexico, where he worked as a fisherman for four years, employed for a time by Villermino Rodríguez.

At the time of his rescue, he had not been in touch with his family in eight years.

On November 17, 2012, Alvarenga set out from the fishing village of Costa Azul, near Pijijiapan, off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico.

An experienced sailor and fisherman, he was intent on a 30-hour shift of deep-sea fishing, during which he hoped to catch sharks, marlins, and sailfish.

His usual fishing mate was unable to join him, so he arranged instead to bring along the inexperienced 23-year-old Ezequiel Córdoba, with whom he had not previously spoken, and whose surname he did not know.

Shortly after embarking, their boat, a seven-meter (23-foot) topless fiberglass skiff equipped with a single outboard motor and a refrigerator-sized icebox for storing fish, was blown off course by a storm that lasted five days, during which the motor and most of the portable electronics were damaged.

Though they had caught nearly 500 kg of fresh fish, the pair were forced to dump it overboard to make the boat maneuverable in the bad weather.

Alvarenga managed to call his boss on a two-way radio and request help before the radio's battery died.

Having neither sails nor oars, no anchor, no running lights, and no other way to contact shore, the boat began to drift across the open ocean.

Much of the fishing gear was also lost or damaged in the storm, leaving them with only a handful of basic supplies and little food.

The search party organized by Alvarenga's employer failed to find any trace of the missing men and gave up after two days because visibility was poor.

As days turned to weeks, they learned to scavenge their food from whatever sources presented themselves.

Alvarenga managed to catch fish, turtles, jellyfish, and seabirds with his bare hands, and the pair occasionally salvaged bits of food and plastic refuse floating in the water.

They collected drinking water from rainfall when possible, but more frequently were forced to drink turtle blood or their own urine.

Alvarenga frequently dreamed about his favorite foods, as well as his parents.

According to Alvarenga, Córdoba lost all hope around four months into the voyage after becoming sick from the raw food, and eventually died from starvation by refusing to eat.

Alvarenga has said that he contemplated suicide for four days after Córdoba died, but his Christian faith prevented him from doing so.

He related that Córdoba made him promise not to eat his corpse after he died, so he kept it on the boat.

He sometimes spoke to the corpse and after six days, fearing he was going insane, he threw it overboard.

Alvarenga reported that he saw numerous transoceanic container ships but was unable to solicit help.

He kept track of time by counting the phases of the moon.

José Salvador Alvarenga (born c. 1975) is a Salvadoran fisherman and author who was found on January 30, 2014, aged 36 or 37, on the Marshall Islands after spending 14 months adrift in a fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean beginning on November 17, 2012.

He survived mainly on a diet of raw fish, turtles, small birds, sharks and rainwater.

He swam to shore at Tile Islet, a small island that is part of Ebon Atoll, on January 30.

Two locals, Emi Libokmeto and Russel Laikidrik, found him naked, clutching a knife and shouting in Spanish.

He was treated in a hospital in Majuro before flying to his family home in El Salvador on February 10.

Alvarenga's story was heavily reported worldwide despite initial criticism from skeptics.

He is the first person in recorded history to have survived in a small boat lost at sea for more than a year.

Alvarenga was born in Garita Palmera, Ahuachapán, El Salvador, to José Ricardo Orellana and María Julia Alvarenga.

Orellana owns a flour mill and store in the town.

He has a daughter who grew up in Garita Palmera with his parents, and several brothers who live in the United States.

On January 30, 2014, he abandoned his boat and swam to shore, where he stumbled upon a beach house owned by a local couple.

Alvarenga's journey had lasted 438 days.

The length of his voyage has been variously calculated as 5500 to 6700 mi.

Some newspapers originally reported Alvarenga's tally of 15-plus lunar cycles as 16 months, but eventually corrected this to 13 months.

According to Gee Bing, Marshall Islands' acting secretary of foreign affairs, Alvarenga's vital signs were all "good", with the exception of blood pressure, which was unusually low.

Bing also said that Alvarenga had swollen ankles and struggled with walking.

On February 6 the doctor treating him reported that his health had "gone downhill" since the day before and that he was on an IV drip to treat his dehydration.

Alvarenga's parents, who had not been in contact with him for years, had feared he was dead long before he went missing, and they were overjoyed to discover he was still alive.

After counting his 15th lunar cycle, he spotted land: a tiny, desolate islet, which turned out to be a remote corner of the Marshall Islands.