By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

SAMUEL Leroy Moss Jr, 23, was stranded at sea for 16 days, surviving on nothing but cookies, chips and sheer determination.

His experience included fleeing wild hogs in Andros, being guided by dolphins in the Atlantic, and starving after his food supplies ran out.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Mr Moss described his ordeal and offered advice to other sailors.

On January 13, Mr Moss drove his new boat, a 20.4-foot angler, from Miami to Bimini. There he spent the night.

Mr Moss said: "On Sunday, January 14, I fuelled up the boat and I was making my way around South Bimini to come home (to Nassau)."

After making a social media video, Mr Moss noticed his gas gauge and GPS had stopped working.

"I (drove) and ended up coming off course and ended up in the back of Andros. That's where I later went on shore…and (decided to) hike.

"But after hiking for maybe the first three miles, I heard wild hogs making noise in the bush."

Mr Moss hiked for approximately three more miles before deciding to scale a tree and attempt to catch a cell phone signal. Unfortunately, he fell.

After spending the night at the base of the tree, Mr Moss returned to his boat the next morning, January 17.

When asked why he decided to leave Andros, Mr Moss said: "I was in the swamp part of Andros. There were no people around so it didn't make sense staying there. No service on your phone, nothing."

Mr Moss tried to navigate his boat through the channels of Andros, but changed his course to avoid drifting too close to Cuba.

Although he spied who he assumed to be foreign fishermen "in the back of Andros", they fled when Mr Moss released one of his flare guns.

"They probably took me for the defence force or police or something," Mr Moss added.

Over the next two days, he encountered two additional boats and a cruise ship. Although he released three more flares, no one came to his rescue.

Mr Moss spent the next week drifting, trying to get to Miami, Florida.

He saw sharks and dolphins, saying he encountered the latter at least three times.

"One would come to the front in the morning. And then before nightfall one would come to the side and just be like swimming (next to the boat)."

Mr Moss felt like the dolphins were a sign from God, sent to comfort and guide him.

While at sea, Mr Moss rationed cookies, a family pack of chips, and a case of bottled water.

"I put all of the (snacks) into one bag and crushed them and ate them like that."

On the following Wednesday, January 24, his food supplies ran out. His situation became worse the following day when the ocean became extremely calm.

Mr Moss said: "I was like 'whoa.' Because the calm meant bad weather (was) coming."

As anticipated, conditions on the water worsened.

"The whole of Friday was just... big waves," he said.

"Before the waves come I had a canvas and I had some rope that I wrapped myself up in. And I just used it to keep me warm. And the wave hit me and that's when I hit my side. I was laying on the floor gasping for air.

"Then another wave hit me and that's when I started praying."

By that evening, the waves knocked all his supplies overboard. Mr Moss said: "That's when I lost all of my bag, my passport, all of my bank cards, cell phone, GPS, everything."

This included the last of his water. Mr Moss said from then on, "I would just dip a shirt in the water and suck on the shirt."

This was also the first time he became fearful. For the majority of his ordeal, "I was really calm because I didn't want to panic and lose focus and lose unnecessary energy," Mr Moss said.

"(I didn't panic until) Friday with the big waves."

Fortunately, by the following day he could see the Miami port in the distance.

However, sometime early Sunday morning his boat got stuck. Mr Moss remained in that spot until Monday morning, when his salvation came in the form of a yacht.

He called to the boat and was later spotted by its owner, Chris, and the crew. They threw him fruit and water and called the US Coast Guard.

After his rescue, Mr Moss was taken to a hospital in a West Palm Beach, Florida, where he was treated for starvation, dehydration, and cuts about his body.

He returned to Nassau on Sunday.

When asked what he learned from this ordeal, Mr Moss said: "Basically, double up on everything. Always carry extra (supplies)."

He said in the future, he would arrange to have someone meet him when sailing between various islands.

"Everything would be more partnered. (That way) just in case anything was to happen, I would have a backup boat there to help me out."

This incident was not Mr Moss' first experience being lost at sea. In February 2017, he was stranded for three days off Grand Bahama. Neither that tribulation nor this one has hampered his love of the sea.

When asked what he would tell aspiring sailors who are afraid of experiencing something like this, Mr Moss said this risk is a part of the profession.

He said: "That can happen to anybody. You can run aground at any time - your boat is man-made so that can give up on you at any time.

"(If you are afraid) you need to find a different profession. Because it can happen to anyone at any time. You can find shift lines pop; oil lines pop, and your engine can give out on you.

"Be prepared for the unexpected."