posted 09-24-2002 01:07 PM            

Van Pham, 62, from Cali spent over 3 months at sea in his storm ravaged sail boat, catching fish, turtles, sea birds, and rain water to live. They found him 2500 miles from port, off of Costa Rica...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20020924-9999_1n24lost.html

quote:

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Navy frigate finds Long Beach man, 62, in good shape

By James W. Crawley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

September 24, 2002

Adrift in his damaged sailboat for 31/2 months, a Long Beach man was found alive by a San Diego-based warship off the coast of Costa Rica – more than 2,500 miles from his home port.

Richard Van Pham, 62, was rescued a week ago by the frigate McClusky and turned over to U.S. officials in Guatemala on Sunday, Navy officials said yesterday.

He survived by catching fish, seabirds and turtles for food and collecting rainwater, said Navy crewmen who found him Sept. 17. Despite losing about 40 pounds and being heavily suntanned, Van Pham was in good condition when found, they reported.

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Van Pham was spotted 275 miles southwest of Costa Rica when a U.S. Customs Service P-3 drug-hunting plane saw his derelict vessel and asked the McClusky to check it out.

When the warship's boat neared, they saw a man cooking a sea gull on a makeshift grill – the ship's wooden trim supplying the fuel. A jury-rigged sail flapped from a splintered mast.

Hailing the boat in Spanish, Petty Officer 3rd Class Elias Nunez said he was surprised when Van Pham answered, "I don't speak Spanish. I speak English."

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posted 09-26-2002 03:45 PM            

Offers Pour in for Man Found at Sea

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES- A man who survived three months adrift in the Pacific Ocean, roasting seabirds when he ran out of food, has received offers of financial help and even free boats.

Since his return to Southern California on Tuesday, Richard Van Pham, 62, has been swamped by well-wishers amazed by his survival story.

Van Pham had set sail from Long Beach in his 26-foot sailboat, Sea Breeze, bound for Santa Catalina Island, some 25 miles offshore.

En route, a storm broke his mast and his outboard motor, and his two-way radio failed.

His boat was spotted three months later, on Sept. 17, from a plane about 275 miles southwest of Costa Rica, 2,500 miles from his original destination. A U.S. Navy frigate picked him up.

Van Pham, a native of Vietnam, told rescuers he used a small grill to cook seabirds and turtle meat after he ran out of food a week into the ordeal.

The journey captured the attention of fellow boaters who have offered their own vessels to replace the Sea Breeze, which was in bad shape and was sunk by the Navy with Van Pham's permission.

"He has an inner strength that is not based on education or money, but on personal strength," said Erwin Freund, a 49-year-old scientist who offered to donate a 25-foot Coronado Sloop. "His boat was not properly equipped. He did not have the proper gear. But he maintained a positive attitude where I would have panicked. He's someone who is really a role model," Freund said.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/sep/26/092603480.html