The following tale seems to be taken straight from Jules Verne’s novels. A sailor adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean was rescued close to the island of Reunion. On board his boat, Zbigniew Reket had his pet cat the whole trip.
This Polish man stated that he had been sailing across the Indian Ocean for the last seven months, having initially set sail from the Union of Comoros in the southeast corner of Africa in May.
He was meant to reach South Africa in a quest for a job, but his craft boat broke down. As a result, he floated between the Maldives, Indonesia, and Mauritius instead of making it to his planned destination.
Prior to his adventure, Zbigniew Reket had lived in the United States for ten years before making the journey to India in 2014 to buy a boat. It is a lifeboat that the sailor fitted out with his own equipment, installing a mast atop it.
The journey takes an awry turn
Forced to leave Comoros, Zbigniew set sail, hoping to get to South Africa to look for employment. But his boat’s engine soon failed, and the vessel became rudderless.
The seafarer could not send a distress signal since the ship’s navigational equipment and means of communication were not functioning correctly at the time. So, aside from his cat, he was all alone.
The castaway reveals that he had only packed supplies for one month’s worth of food on board. Consequently, he survived the voyage by eating half a bag of Chinese soup daily, according to Euronews.
He occasionally fished to round out his diet with some protein. His cat survived the trip by eating the bonito fish.
At Pointe du Gouffre, a sailboat finally noticed the makeshift boat and tipped off the authorities. Afterward, a ship from a rescue service hauled the drifting boat and its crew back to the port.
When he arrived at the harbor, the Friends of the Sea association welcomed Zbigniew. Meanwhile, the Gendarmerie began an inquiry to determine the truth about what took place with this sailor and his cat.
It was too late for Reket to renew his expired American visa when he landed on Reunion Island. Also, the South African trip was on hold.
As a result, Zbigniew planned to remain on the tropical island until his boat was fixed. However, the man admitted he did not yet have his next destination figured out.
There was no mention of his whereabouts regarding his cat, but he probably deserved some respite after this ordeal.