Kai Sato, 39, set sail alone from Catalina Island, California, on June 7. Just thirteen days later, the mast of his sailboat broke in strong winds and the navigation phone became unusable. He was left adrift in the middle of the Pacific, without direction and with no way to call for help.
For 30 days, he survived by drinking rainwater and cooking with seawater. Dehydration and loneliness led him into severe depression: he cried for an entire week and even thought about taking his own life. To endure, he meditated, spoke to the wind, and felt the presence of his late uncle, with whom he had crossed that same ocean toward Hawaii as a child.
On July 21, lookouts aboard the George III spotted his small sailboat in distress and rescued him alive. Today, Sato is grateful to the crew that saved him and is already thinking about returning to the sea.