This story made me think of The Lord of the Flies but which a much better outcome.
In June 1965 6 boys aged 15-17 escaped from their Catholic boarding school on Tongutapu. They stole a boat but did little preparation and did not have much in the way of provisions. A storm came up and mostly destroyed their boat. The ended up floating for 200 miles over 8 days. Eventually the boys saw the unoccupied island of Ata. They used planks from the boat to swim to the island over the a 36 hour period.
Once they landed on the island they dug a cave for shelter. They ended up staying in the cave for 3 months. They eventually found that ruins of the village of Kolomaile inside a volcanic crater. The boys would survive on feral chickens, wild taro and bananas. They would collect rain water in hallowed out tree trunks., They would also drink the blood of seabirds when they did not have enough water.
The boys' divided the labor by garden, kitchen and guard duties which were performed in pairs. The oldest two took on leader roles - one spiritual and one practical. One of the boys managed to create a fire by rubbing two sticks together and they kept it burning for the entire time they were marooned. At night the boys would sit by the fire and play q makeshift guitar. The boys ended up writing 5 songs while on the island.
The boys did try to build a raft and escape but the raft ended up falling apart. This was actually a fortunate occurrence since the boys incorrectly believed that they were in Samoa and were heading out into the open ocean.,
On September 11, 1966 captain Peter Warner of the fishing boat Just David saw burned patches on the cliffsides of Ata island. He was searching the island coast with his binoculars when he spotted the boys. He ended up swimming to the island where the boys told him their story. He ended up radioing to Nuku'alofa to verify what they told him.
Upon their recues the boys were given physicals and were all determined to be in good health. Back home there was a huge celebration planned. However, when the boys did not appear Captain Warner went looking for them. He found out that the boys had been arrested for theft of the boat. The captain sold the rights to his story to Channel 7 in Sydney for $200USD and used the money to reimburse the boat oqwner. The owner ended up dropping the theft charges.
Warner and the boys were taken back to Ata by Channel 7. The film called The Castaways was aired in October 1966.
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