“SAVED BY TUNABOAT – 13 MEANS LUCK TO ANGLER ADRIFT – You can’t tell Mr. Stanley Sahara that 13 is an unlucky number. Following a weird 8-DAY ordeal at sea that saw him fighting fire, sharks, the sea, the sun, and loneliness and frustration; Sahara was rescued in Mexican waters by the 13-man crew of the San Diego tuna boat, the ‘NAVIGATOR’. ‘He was sunburned, thin, and tired; but he still had his wits,’ said Mr. ARNOLD MONISE of 3411 Garrison St., the ‘Navigator’s’ Assistant Engineer, said last night.
BOAT STALLS
Monise said Sahara, 48-year-old Chicago businessman and property owner, told this story: ‘He was fishing 2 miles off the mouth of Acapulco Bay on February 3rd. When he started back, the outboard motor of the rented boat failed. He ripped out a cushion and paddled with it. When night fell, he used fishing line and a rock to anchor. But the line broke, and the boat drifted far out to sea. ‘He was 25 miles offshore and 80 miles south of Acapulco, when we picked him up on February 11th, some 8 days later.’ Monise said. ‘I was the lookout. I thought his boat was a log. We headed for it because we thought fish would be near. Then we saw him jumping and waving. ‘We had to reverse engines to get close, and I guess he thought we weren’t going to stop. He started to jump in and swim toward us, but one of the boys explained to him. ‘It’s a good thing he didn’t try to swim. The sharks would have got him.’ Sharks and turtles disturbed the boat at night, and the sun was merciless on Sahara during the day.
BOAT IGNITES
‘About 20 boats passed him, some so close he could read their names. Once, at night, to attract attention he set a cushion on fire with fuel from the motor. But it caught the boat on fire and he had a heck of a time getting the flames out.’ The ‘Navigator’, skippered by Capt. JOAQUIN QUALIN of 3022 Lawrence St., returned Sahara to Acapulco. ‘He told us it was the first time he’d ever prayed for himself, even though he’d been wounded during the war. He’d even made a will. The last thing he said to us was, ‘The ‘Navigator’ is one boat I’ll never forget.’ Monise said Sahara is sending each crewman an EIGHT-DAY CLOCK (which only have to be wound every eight days – ed.), symbolic of the length of time he was lost.”
(*Source: San Diego UNION & Daily Bee newspaper – Friday, March 29, 1963 – Pg. 37)
Editorial Note: The very fortunate Mr. Stanley S. Sahara (aka. Czohara) was born April 7, 1917 in Detroit, Michigan and (Thanks to the sharp-eyed Mr. Arnold Monise, Capt. Joaquin Qualin, and the crew of the ‘Navigator’) lived far past the “lost at sea” scare of 1963 to eventually pass away on December 9, 2001 in Downers Grove, Du Page Co., Illinois of “natural causes”, after having lived much of his life in Chicago. He was indeed in the U.S. Army in WWII, and earned a Purple Heart in 1944. As such, he is buried the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Will Co., Illinois.