Pacific castaways find long-lost relatives 13/12/2011

Dominique Schwartz reported this story on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 08:21:00

TONY EASTLEY: Now from the Pacific, a remarkable tale of survival and discovery.

In October, two men from Kiribati set out on their boat for a quick inter-island shopping trip. Instead they wound up lost at sea, battling for survival for 33 days.

As New Zealand correspondent Dominique Schwartz explains, the men not only lived to tell their tale but also uncovered the story of their uncle, presumed drowned at sea 25 years earlier.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: When Temaei Tontaake and Uein Buranibwe popped out to get fuel a couple of months ago, they couldn't have imagined the journey before them.

GIFF JOHNSON: They were trying to travel between Marakei, their home island, and Abaiang. They were out getting gas and that's about an 80 kilometre trip, which for people in Kiribati is like, you just jump in a boat and go.

But unfortunately for them, they said they had a GPS but the battery died and then because of that they lost their way.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: Giff Johnson is the editor of the Marshall Islands Journal. He's just spoken with the two survivors and says they were lucky to have had fishing gear on the boat.

GIFF JOHNSON: That was what kept them alive. They caught some sharks, used the shark meat for bait and were able to pull in some tuna.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: And what did they do for water?

GIFF JOHNSON: Well that's one of the things they told me that it was a bit of a problem for them because it didn't rain very much. They said they actually ended up having to drink some seawater now and then.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: Finally, after a month adrift, the 26 and 53-year-old seafarers blew ashore on Namdrik, a small coral atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Imagine their surprise when they discovered relatives - the offspring of Tontaake's uncle, thought drowned at sea 50 years earlier.

GIFF JOHNSON: He was a young man when he was lost at sea and floated in to Namdrik and this would have been in the maybe the late 1950s or early 1960s. And in those days there wasn't much in the way of communications gear on these remote islands. So it's quite easy to understand why he would have just stayed there, settled down and blended into the community, raised kids and lived there the rest of his life.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: The uncle has since died but his story raises hope about others who've disappeared off the horizon. And apparently, there are plenty.

GIFF JOHNSON: You know, I asked these guys, do very many people from your island end up, you know, getting lost at sea? and they go, Oh it happens all the time.

DOMINIQUE SCHWARTZ: As for Temaei Tontaake and Uein Buranibwe, they've just arrived in the Marshall Island's capital of Majuro, after hitching a ride from their outlying atoll in a cargo boat.

Now they're waiting for a broken plane to be fixed so they can return to Kiribati.

Giff Johnson reckons they'll probably be better prepared next time they hit the water.

GIFF JOHNSON: You know they thought they'd be okay I guess with their GPS, but I guess the moral of this story is take extra batteries.

This is Dominique Schwartz in Auckland for AM.