Louis Jordan – 66 Days at sea (apparently)

Time stranded: 66 days

Distance traveled: between 200 and 500 miles

Terrain types: Sea

Deaths: 0

Situation ended: Rescued by passing ship

 Location: North Carolina coast

The story of Louis Jordan is a little different from the rest in the sense that many people out there think it didn’t happen, or at least in the way Louis says it did. The story begins on January 23rd, 2015 when Louis decides to head out on his single-masted sailboat called “Angel”. His intention was to do some fishing in the Gulf Stream where he believed the biggest fish would be.

Six days after he left his father reported him missing on the 29th and a search party was formed. He was eventually found 200 miles off the coast by a passing German tanker which picked him up and took him to the Coast Guard, a full 66 days after he first set out. As for how he got into trouble in the first place, Louis stated the following reason later in an interview:

“On the way there, my boat capsized. I was actually sleeping, that’s when it happened. The whole boat had turned around and I was flying through the air somersaulting and the ceiling was the floor and the floor was the ceiling and this side was the other side and everything was upside down and backwards.”

He claims he survived the 66 days by drinking rainwater and living off some of the supplies he was able to gather when his boat capsized. Luckily it only turned over and didn’t sink which allowed him to retrieve some of the supplies from within, though his GPS and signalling equipment were all lost in the original accident.

The reason there are people who question the validity of his story is because there are certain things that just don’t add up. He claims he broke his shoulder bone during the initial accident, but the Coast Guard who first inspected him reported only light bruising. After getting to the hospital he refused medical treatment and was released the next day.

He also claims he drank about 1 pint of water a day which he collected entirely from rainwater, but upon meeting the first coast guard members he seemed fine. After being airlifted back to the mainland he walked on his own and carried a bag with him, something that would seem odd with a broken shoulder. He also claimed to have lost 50 pounds in weight, but again seemed reasonably healthy and not someone who was eating a tiny amount of food each day like he claimed.

His story is indeed possible but there are too many questionable parts to it, but Louis remains positive he’s telling the truth. For another great example of someone who may or may not have got into a survival situation, the story of Ricky McGee makes for another strange tale.