Report: Teenagers who drifted 50 days in Pacific were chasing girl

Nov 26, 2010, 18:49 GMT

Wellington - The three teenagers who survived 50 days drifting in the South Pacific in a small boat were on an alcohol-fuelled mission to find a girl on a neighbouring atoll who had caught their eye, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

They stole the tiny aluminium boat on October 5 after one of the boys was smitten by a girl who visited their home atoll Atafu in Tokelau for a sports tournament, the Dominion Post reported.

She returned to her home on Fakaofo, 200 kilometres away, after the tournament, and emboldened by alcohol they took off after midnight to find her, carrying only a couple of sacks of coconuts, some beer and a fuel tank.

After the boat ran out of fuel, they drifted about 1,300 kilometres before being spotted by a fishing boat on its way back to New Zealand on Wednesday.

They said they had eaten only a seagull that they managed to catch and had drunk rainwater but started to drink seawater when it did not rain.

The trio - Samuelu Peleha (also known as Sam Perez) and Filo Filo, both 15, and Etueni (or Edward) Nasau, 14, gaunt, ill and lucky to be alive were recovering in Suva, capital of Fiji, after being transferred to a navy patrol boat.

Two were released into the care of extended family members after being checked by doctors in hospital and the other was detained for further examination, a spokeswoman for the New Zealand High Commission in Suva told the German Press Agency, dpa.

Kuresa Nasau, a cousin of the boys and chief of Tokelau's 1,300 people, who live on three atolls hundreds of kilometres apart, was quoted by the Dominion Post as saying nobody saw them go but it would not have been thought unusual.

'Young kids go out fishing all the time, nobody questions that,' he said. 'They were seen at midnight and nobody suspected they were going to take off.'

Memorial services for the three were held on Atafu after surveillance flights by the New Zealand air force found no trace of them. Their rescue was hailed as a miracle by friends and relations.

Nasau told dpa Friday: 'They must have had a plan to leave the island, they must have thought this was a game, they would arrive at another country soon.

'When they were reported missing on the Tuesday, we were all upset at what they did, leaving the island without telling anyone. But now they are forgiven.'

The boat they took was the newest one bought for their small island and he said they would face some hard questions when they returned home.

Read more about Tokelau