Life Imitates Art
Just over five years ago Paul Lynch’s fourth novel was published entitled “Beyond the Sea”. It’s a strange, gently paced and absorbing read, that at times seems more like a film than a book.
It tells the story of two South American fishermen, Bolivar and Hector, who go to sea before a catastrophic storm. Needing cash, Bolivar convinces his boss to let him fish despite the weather. His fishing partner is nowhere to be found, so he brings Hector, a sullen and inexperienced teenager.
At the time the Guardian wrote in a review…
Bolivar, sometimes known as Porky, an experienced fisherman whose hands are large and whose plastic sandals are held together with tape, has done something stupid. To make enough money to fix it before his pursuers cut off his ears, he needs to catch fish. His temporary assistant, Hector, an adolescent who turns up in a sweater with a pirate logo and who has only ever fished the local lagoon, is failing to earn his respect. The South American beach where Bolivar keeps his boat is strewn with symbols of their coming voyage, among them an old man whose “songs are sung to the bones of the dead”. A storm is in the offing; Bolivar and Hector should be returning to port, not leaving it.
If you have a feeling that the older man has underestimated more than one factor in this mix, that he is ignoring too many aspects of his own life, and that as a result both men are in danger from something yet to happen, you’re right: but the scale of it, the extremity of it and the poetry of it are what Paul Lynch is going to show you.
Scroll forward five years to this article published in The Maritime Executive earlier this week.
Fisherman Rescued After 95 Days Adrift off Ecuador
A 61-year-old Peruvian fisherman has been rescued after spending 95 days adrift at sea off the coast of Ecuador. He had been hanging on to life for months by eating whatever he could catch, and was in critical condition when found.
Maximo Napa Castro, 61, set off from the city of Marcona, Peru on December 7. He was planning to spend two weeks at sea to fish, and had supplies for the journey. 10 days into the trip, he encountered a storm and his skiff's engine failed, leaving him adrift. Without an EPIRB, he had no way to send a distress signal for help. He ran out of food and water, and ate insects, birds and a turtle in order to keep going; he relied solely on rainwater for his drinking water supply, when it was available at all.
While he was adrift, his family held out hope that he might still be rescued, even as the days turned into weeks and months. "Every day is anguish for the whole family and I understand my grandmother’s pain, because as a mother, I understand her," said Napa's daughter, Ines Napa Torres, in a Facebook post. "We never thought we would go through this situation, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.We will not lose hope, Dad, of finding you."
An Ecuadorian fishing patrol boat found Napa at last on March 11, adrift at a position about 600 nautical miles off the coast of Ecuador. He was severely dehydrated, and he was taken ashore in critical condition and delivered to a hospital in Paita, Peru; he was given IV treatment to nurse him back to health, and was discharged from the hospital on the 15th. He was flown to Lima for a joyous reunion with his mother and the rest of his family.
Without wanting to spoil the read, reality and fiction might not have exactly the same ending!