SOLOMON ISLANDER LOST AT SEA SAVED BY THE GRACE of GOD!

Survivor Webster Malefo Anisi with the two young West New Britain girls who dragged him to safety.

PASIN WEST - HEROIC GIRLS RESCUE LOST SOLOMON ISLANDER

By NICOLE JOHANES in KIMBE, WEST NEW BRITAIN

A SOLOMON Islands grandpa, who became lost at sea for nearly two months, has been rescued off the coast of West New Britain in Papua New Guinea.

Old man of the sea, Webster Malefo Anisi yesterday credited his extraordinary ordeal at sea and his survival and eventual rescue as 'by the grace of God'.
 
“I was saved by God” was the emotional confession of the 58-year-old survivor from the western Solomon Islands.

Webster Malefo Anisi was missing at sea for 47 days.
 
He left Honiara on July 3 on a 21-foot dinghy powered by a 25-horsepower engine for Western Province when he starting drifting in foggy weather with strong winds and rough seas.
 
He was using a GPS when he left Honiara and passed Guadalcanal and travelled past Yandina with his GPS still in working order but when he passed Merry Island, the GPS power went out.
 
Anisi didn’t reach Western Province at 5pm on Sunday as expected and he realized that he was lost when he did not sight any land by Monday afternoon when his fuel ran out.
 
He had taken four loaves of bread which lasted for two weeks while the water in the esky sustained him a week and a half.

 
He said when he had no water to drink he cried out to God to send rain and sure enough rain came and filled his esky.

Solomon Islands boat survivor Webster Malefo Anisi with the director of provincial disaster office Wilfred Augustine and his officers at the Mativon guest house where he is being accommodated.

 
In the third week when he had nothing at all, so he said he prayed to God asking for Him to send a coconut to come floating to him.
 
And without fail the good God sent him a young fresh coconut as if it had just fallen from the tree, which he ate in small portions and that lasted him a week and a half, still maintaining its freshness.
 
Anisi had stomach ulcer and the coconut affected his health so he stopped eating the remainder of the coconut and lived on water.
 
He said he than asked the Lord to bless the water to strengthen his body and trusted God to do what was best for him.
 
Anisi finally sighted land, which turned out to be Kalkas Island in Amio in Gasmata LLG, South Coast , on August 18, and when he did, he prayed asking God to send strong winds to push his boat toward the shore, and God answered accordingly.
 
When the boat was close to the shore it capsized from the strong winds and huge waves threw Anisi into the sea.
 
Two young girls who were fishing nearby saw what happened.

 
One dived into the sea and dragged him up to the beach while the other girl went after the boat.

Shortland Islanders from Western Province of Solomon Islands in Buin, Bougainville.

The girl fed him taro and while he was eating she followed after the other girl and together they managed to bring the boat to shore.
 
They then alerted their other relatives who came and took care of Anisi and made contact with the provincial disaster office.
 
Director of provincial disaster Wilfred Augustine sent two of his officers to Kaskas to bring him to Kimbe.
 
When they saw that Anisi could not endure a long rough drive, they airlifted him by helicopter into Kimbe with funding assistance from the director of technical services Tau Mabone.
 
Anisi was admitted at the Kimbe provincial hospital where he received treatment and has been discharged and is being looked after by the disaster office team.
 
Anisi will travel to Port Moresby this week and from there fly to Honiara to re-unite with his family.

He has thanked the two “angels” who came to his rescue and the people of Kalkas and as a token of appreciation he has given the boat to the girl who saved his life.
 
He has also thanked Mr Augustine and the disaster team for their hospitality.

Anisi said he has message for everyone and that is never forget God.

Getting lost in the Solomon Sea and ending up in the neighbouring country is not new for Pacific Islands.

This year, PNG boats from New Ireland and Bougainville were rescued in Western Solomon Islands after they ran out of fuel and were left drifting in bad weather.