Two American women and their dogs — lost at sea after their boat lost power in a Pacific Ocean storm — have been rescued by the Navy, ending a perilous journey that began five months ago.
"They saved our lives," Jennifer Appel, 48, said in a statement released by the Navy, USA Today reported. "The pride and smiles we had when we saw [the ship] on the horizon was pure relief."
A Taiwanese fishing boat discovered the stranded mariners Tuesday 900 miles southeast of Japan — and thousands of miles from their intended destination of Tahiti. The crew contacted the U.S. Coast Guard at Guam, and the USS Ashland arrived Wednesday morning to haul the women and dogs aboard.
Appel and Tasha Fuiaba, both from Honolulu, and their dogs, Zeus and Valentine, left Hawaii for Tahiti in the spring, but after their engine failed May 30 during bad weather, they pressed on hoping to reach land under sail, USA Today reported.
Instead, they became lost and drifted off course — issuing daily distress calls two months into the trip that were not close enough to other ships or land to be heard, the outlet reported.
"One prays every day, and your friends pray with you, and you hope that everything goes well," Appel's mother, Marie, said in a phone interview with NBC News on Thursday. "I thank God that she has made it there safely."
"Jennifer's a very strong-willed person, and very curious, and very creative, so consequently when things would break she would try to fix them," the mom told the outlet. "And so I was sure that if it was any possibility, she would pull it out, she would make it."
She also doesn’t think the lost-at-sea experience would dry-dock her daughter.
"She loved the water . . . she's always enjoyed the water," Marie Appel said. "So I doubt that she'll stop, I doubt that she'll stop sailing."
According to USA Today, Appel said they survived because they had water purifiers and more than a year's worth of food — primarily oatmeal, pasta and rice.
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