They had no choice but to swim.
The three men had left just hours earlier when a large wave capsized their 19-foot skiff on Monday night. They swam through two miles of dark water before finding salvation: the tiny Pacific Island of Fanadik, several hundred miles north of Papua New Guinea.
For three days, the men remained stranded on the uninhabited island, hoping for help. In the end, their own ingenuity would facilitate their rescue: The crew aboard a Navy plane spotted the men waving life jackets, standing next to piles of palm leaves arranged to spell out four capital letters: H-E-L-P.
Once found, their families were notified and, in the end, they were put on a small local boat back to Pulap, from where they initially set out to sea. No injuries were reported.