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How a California Man Survived Nearly a Month Lost at Sea
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. A solo sailor from California who vanished in the Pacific Ocean for nearly a month has been found alive after a cargo ship spotted his battered vessel drifting toward Hawaii .
Kai Sato told HawaiiNewsNow that he spent days in despair after losing his mast, fuel and phone, leaving him unable to steer or call for help.
Newsweek was unable to reach Sato for comment.
A Pasha Hawaii container ship located Sato, 39, earlier this week after his sailboat drifted hundreds of miles off its intended route. The crew made repeated attempts to get him aboard before providing food, water, clothing and a place to recover.
Newsweek reached out to Pasha Hawaii for comment.
Sato had set off from the Catalina Islands on June 7 for what he hoped would be his first solo Pacific crossing, HawaiiNewsNow reported. Roughly two weeks into the voyage, the mast failed, eliminating his ability to sail. When he tried to rely on his motor, he ran out of fuel, leaving him adrift outside major shipping lanes.
With his phone no longer functioning after getting wet, Sato told reporters he felt completely cut off from any chance of rescue.
“I was literally like a sitting duck, just getting taken south by the current going way off course,” Sato told HawaiiNewsNow.
Sato told HawaiiNewsNow that he spent several days overwhelmed before deciding to attempt makeshift repairs. He used PVC pipes and kayak paddles to stabilize the boat and slowly work his way back toward a busy shipping corridor—a process that took nearly a month.
Food was limited to leftover oatmeal and whatever sea creatures landed aboard. When his fresh water ran out on July 11, he improvised a condensation system using buckets and plastic bags to collect small amounts of drinkable moisture, HawaiiNewsNow reported.
He described meditating, talking to the wind and waves, and drawing strength from memories of an uncle who had once sailed the same route with him as a child.
Now recovering with relatives in Hawaii, Sato told HawaiiNewsNow that he hopes to attempt another long-distance voyage—this time to the Philippines—on a larger boat.
“For thousands of years, maritime law has protected and rewarded the salvor,” Engerrand said, noting that crews who voluntarily save property at sea are entitled to a reward. “That reward is shared by the crew who perform the salvage and by the owner whose vessel was involved in the salvage,” he said. “The greater the effort that is expended, the larger the reward.”
Engerrand added that modern statutes and international conventions now allow life salvors to share in property‑salvage rewards—a shift from older maritime rules that did not compensate the saving of life alone.
“Life salvors are entitled to part of the reward,” he said. “The reward is to be liberally granted to encourage salvage efforts.”
He also emphasized that maritime law shields rescuers from liability for delays or incidental damage that may occur during the rescue, provided they do not act negligently.
“As long as the salvor does not act negligently, there is no liability for delays suffered by passengers or cargoes or for damage to the salvaged vessel that was not made worse by the salvor,” Engerrand said.
Those protections and incentives help explain why the Pasha Hawaii crew was able to respond quickly when they spotted Sato’s damaged sailboat, and why commercial ships remain a critical lifeline for mariners who lose communication or drift outside major shipping lanes.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jenna deJong and Sam Wilson .
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