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A Haida fisherman, one of three stranded on a B.C. island for 10days in May, is now talking about the shipwreck and how he and hisfriends survived. Jesse Brillon was prawn fishing with friends and brothers Brian andDave Martynuik, south of Prince Rupert, B.C., on May 9, 2012 when their 15-metre fishing boat capsized . The three men had been fishing for two days, 25 kilometres off themainland shore, and were making their way to Haida Gawaii whentheir boat tipped over. "Basically we just scrambled out of the boat and the boat flippedover so fast we were in the water before we knew anything. We justscrambled onto the bottom of the boat," said Brillon. 'Nobody was expecting us for two weeks' Jesse Brillon, stranded fisherman They tried to send a mayday call before the boat capsized, tossingeverything into the cold sea water. "After about three hours we realized it didn't happen. So we knewwe were on our own then. Couldn't see land," said Brillon. "Ithappened so fast, we got our little life raft and a tarp and prettymuch we were on our own from then." 18 hours on life raft "Basically we just tried to huddle together under our tarp and staywarm and stay awake, really, because we were in it for about 18hours in that life raft. Fifteen of those hours were pretty tough.We were so cold we couldn't really do much," said Brillon. The men spent the better part of a day in the life raft before theywere able to use the tarp as a sail to navigate themselves towardsBanks Island, in the middle of Hecate Strait. Brillon spotted a pile of driftwood at the tip of the island andthe trio sailed the life raft in that direction. "We were pretty happy to set foot on land. We built a shelter outof driftwood right away, and Brian looked for water." The men settled in for what they knew would be a long wait forhelp. No one knew men were missing Family and friends didn't expect the three to return home for days,says Brillon. "Nobody was expecting us for two weeks, so we knew we'd be in for abit of a wait before anyone was looking for us." "Once we reached land and found our water supply, we pretty muchknew we could spend quite a bit of time there, it was just a matterof finding food. We knew we'd be fine once we hit land, becausewe're all Haida and know how to live off the land and the sea,"said Brillon. They picked seaweed and sea urchins at low tide and begancollecting debris to pile at the point of Banks Island, where theyhad set up their shelter. "We just did whatever we could to keep our spirits up. Joked aroundand just looked for food and looked for junk and debris to decoratethe shoreline with." The rescue After 10 days on the island, the trio was rescued. "An old timer with a sailboat was cruising around looking fordebris on the beaches just happened to see all the junk we'd set upand came to investigate, and found us." They feared, briefly, that the boat's captain would pass by withoutspotting them on the shore. "He kind of drove past us at first and we were kind of worried thathe didn't see us but he went all the way around the back side [ofthe island] and once he came in and dropped his anchor we knew wewere saved, so we were all pretty happy." He said it was an emotional reunion when they returned home,despite the fact that no one actually knew they had been strandedat sea. "Our families and loved ones didn't know we were missing until we'dactually been rescued. We were kind of happy about that, to behonest." "I'm honestly just emotionally, physically mentally drained fromall this. Financially as well, we all lost a lot of stuff and therewas no insurance on the boat. So we're all pretty tired I thinkfrom all this, but we're all happy. "All the stuff we lost is replaceable, and we're here!" saidBrillon. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as 4D Theater System , 4D Cinema System, and more. For more , please visit 4D Theater System today!
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