Photo: Tai Fredricsen

On Thursday, we posted about three Tokelauan teenage boys who had attempted to row the sixty miles between two small Pacific islands, became lost and drifted  for fifty days across nearly 1,000 miles of the Pacific  in a small aluminum skiff.   A more complete story is now coming about how the three boys, two aged 15  and one 14, found themselves in this predicament. It all started with a girl.

In October, there was a sporting event on Atafu,  the Tokelauan atoll that is the boys’ home.  One of the attendees was a girl from a neighboring atoll, Fakaofo.  At least one of the boys was smitten by the young lady.  When she left their island, the three boys decided to go visit her.  Reportedly,  alcohol may have played a part in the decision.  Around midnight on the day of her departure, they stole a skiff and brought along a bag of coconuts, some beer and a fuel tank. The fuel ran out early, so they decided to row to the neighboring atoll, some sixty miles away. Instead, they got lost and drifted 1300 kms over 50 days before they were picked up by a passing tuna fishing boat.  Remarkably, all three boys are in relatively good health – a bit sunburned, thin and thirsty, but generally OK.

Boozy teens’ midnight trip goes 1300km astray

Thanks to Joan Druett for passing along the update.