He is a modern-day “castaway.”
Three stranded boaters were rescued this week on a remote Pacific island thanks to their clever “help” sign inscribed in palm fronds.
The men were fishing off the coast of Pikelot Atoll, part of Micronesia, on March 31 when their 20-foot boat was overtaken by swells, U.S. Coast Guard officials said in a statement.
The skiff’s outboard motor was damaged and the men were forced to abandon ship at Pikelot, the media outlet said.
However, once they arrived on the uninhabited island, the trio’s radio ran out of battery.
Despite their desperate situation, they managed to find a viable alternative: spelling the word “HELP” on large palm fronds on the island’s sandy beach, the coast guard said.
They subsisted on coconut meat and fresh water from a small well installed by fishermen who occasionally stopped on the island.
The search began April 6, after a relative reported to Guam authorities that they had not returned from their fishing trip.
The relative told authorities that the three men began their journey from Polowat Atoll, more than 100 miles away.
Pikelot is even more remote, because the more than 600 islands that make up Micronesia are scattered across about 1.5 million miles of ocean between the Philippines and Hawaii, officials noted.
A US Navy P-8A aircraft took off from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, and spotted the palm leaf sign on April 7, the Coast Guard said.
The sign was “crucial” to finding the three men in the search area that spanned more than 103,000 square miles, Lt. Chelsea Garcia said.
“This act of ingenuity was essential in guiding the rescue efforts directly on scene,” Garcia said.
The Navy dropped survival packs for stranded boaters. A day later, a Hawaii Coast Guard HC-103 dropped a radio on them.
Finally, on Tuesday, the Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Henry reached Pikelot.
One of the first officers on the island was Petty Officer 2nd Class Eugene Halishlius, who was originally from Micronesia and spoke the native language, CNN reported.
“I could see in their faces: ‘Whoa! Who is this guy who speaks our language?’ “, Halishlius told the media outlet.
When Halishlius gave the men his name, the group quickly realized they were all related.
“It’s a crazy world, I found out I was related to them!” Halishlius gushed from this fortuitous moment. “(They) couldn’t believe I’m with the Coast Guard trying to save them.”
One of the men is his third cousin, while the other two are his fourth cousins, he said of the family relationship.
On Thursday, the three men were returned safely to Polowat. Their names have not been released.
The U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the rescue.
New York Post
