Cook Islands fisher lost at sea for a week describes his ordeal

A Cook Islands fisher lost at sea for a week was knocked out of his dinghy twice during relentless storms and violent seas.

Apiuta Apiuta, also known as Pone, from the tiny island of Pukapuka, was spotted by a New Zealand Defence Force aircraft team and plucked out of the ocean by the crew of a Taiwanese fishing vessel last Thursday.

Before he goes home to the Cooks Islands, Apiuta was visiting relieved relatives in Auckland, where he explained to RNZ what happened.

Apiuta said he spent the day playing in a volleyball tournament on the powdery white sand of the tiny coral atoll of Pukapuka.

However, he was anxious to get his dinghy out before it got too late so he could catch a feed for his family and others in the community. In his haste, he forgot to take his torch or his lifejacket. This would prove to be a very bad mistake.

“I was catching a few fish until I had around six or seven fish in my boat, I thought, I’d catch another one,” he said.

It was after he’d hauled in his ninth fish that the outboard motor started playing up and, eventually, went completely dead.

“It was getting darker, the sunset [had] already dropped.”

He drained the motor and replaced the fuel but it made no difference. He had two oars and tried to haul his way to shore, but the wind was too strong and he started drifting from the island.

“I could see that the men on the island were looking for me, I could see them with their lights. I didn’t take a torch with me.”

Apiuta had around three litres of water, pocket knife, a pair of long-nosed pliers, a bucket and the rest of his fishing gear.

After his first chilly night, he could no longer see the island. He ate a little of one of the fish he had caught the previous day, then the weather turned.

“The sea was rough – really rough – and the wind, very strong. Waves were breaking into the boat,” he said.

He spent lots of energy using the oars to ensure the boat didn’t capsize. The storm lasted four days, he said.

“The waves that hit me, twice fell off the boat.”

The rain was near constant, too, so at least he was able to collect drinking water in his bucket. But it was so cold.

“It was cold every day; day and night.

He was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

However, he said his survival instincts kicked in and he refused to be defeated by his situation. And for some of the time he had company.

“There was this one bird that flew on my boat and stayed with me the whole day. It’s a bird that we call in our language tākapu. That bird stayed with me the whole day until the next morning,” he said. “To me it’s like a good sign.”

He said he spoke to the bird.

“I said, ‘go find his friends and fly me back to the island’,” he laughed.

On the seventh day the unmistakable sound of an aircraft overhead – an RNZAF P-8A Poseidon.

“I was so happy when I first saw it. I was very happy.”

The plane was blinking its lights so Apiuta could be sure he’d been spotted.

That evening he was picked up by a Taiwanese fishing vessel. The crew took him straight to the kitchen and fed him noodles, which he enjoyed very much.

Apiuta was then able to make a phone call from the vessel to his anxious partner, who passed on the happy news to his mother and siblings in New Zealand.

His sister, Tina, said she always believed Apiuta would make it, but getting the phone call confirming he was still alive was overwhelming.

“I ran to mum’s room – mum was sleeping – and we started crying together. And then his son called at that exact time and had a conversation when mum and they both started crying on the phone together as well.”

The family wants to thank the New Zealand Defence for the way they carried out the operation to bring Apiuta safely home.