After Three Years as a Fisherman, This Teenager Didn’t Expect This Job to Be His Last

In the year of 2014, teenager Aldi Novel Adilang got a job as a local Indonesian fisherman. Spending months at a time in the water for work, he was used to the conditions of life at sea and keeping to himself. But what should have started out as a normal day on the job for Aldi on July 14, 2018, turned into the unthinkable. When the weather and tides took an intense turn that summer morning, he needed to prepare for a whole new quest that not even he could have seen coming, making this trip out for work, his last. Continue reading to learn about this teen's unbelievable drama at sea.

Not Just Your Average Fisherman

Aldi Novel Adilang wasn’t just your average fisherman. In fact, his job was a lot more intense than you would think a teenager would be able to handle. He wasn’t the type of fisherman who went out to sea every day and then returned back to shore at the end of it. He was a lamp-keeper, which meant his method of catching fish was to stay on a fishing boat-like hut and attract the fish by lighting lamps at night. This role required him to stay at sea for months at a time. But that day, the sense of adventure that his role gave him, took a turn for the worst when his boat started to experience some technical difficulties.

Aldi’s Fishing Experience

The minimum wage in Indonesia is equivalent to about $232 a month, and Aldi had signed a contract to work for $130 month. And although that might not seem like much, Aldi was still committed to his job and had friends who worked alongside with him on the same gig. Aldi had been fishing on his rompong for about three years, and although he was just a teenager at the time, this trip was far from his first rodeo. But both him and his friends would have never expected that this trip was going to be his last.

Aldi’s Typical Day-to-Day Job

The official name of the special floating hut that lamp-keepers use is called a “rompong”, which is typically made from bamboo poles and coconut fronds. Both Aldi and his friends were well-equipped and knowledgeable when it came down to fishing with rompongs and lamps. And for this particular trip, Aldi’s was set to be at his usual location about 80 miles off of Indonesia’s province, North Sulawesi. His typical routine included resting or hanging out during the day, and then making sure to light up the lamps to lure in fish at night. You’re probably wondering though, how exactly was he able to live alone on this little hut for months at a time, right?

Delivered Supplies and Walkie-Talkie Jokes

Since the rompong system had been used for many years, this traditional method was developed to enable the fishermen to be at sea for long periods of time. How, you ask? Every single week, someone would come to deliver supplies like food, fuel, and water to the fisherman aboard their rompong and, of course, collect the fish that the trap had caught. And when it came to handling the days and days of solitude and isolation, that’s when their handy-dandy walkie talkies came into play. Since their solar-powered handheld radios had a range of about 5 miles radius, they were able to tell jokes and stories to other fishermen aboard their rompong at sea. But it wouldn’t be until later, that Aldi would understand just how important having this walkie-talkie would be.

From Calm to Chaotic

On the morning of July 14, 2018, Aldi was resting after a long night of lighting lamps and trapping fish. But by the time he woke up, the calm evening had turned into a chaotic morning. Wings started gusting and rocking the floating hut about, making it hard to contain its position and remain anchored down. Aldi wasn’t the only rompong fisherman in the area, but before anyone knew it, his rompong started rubbed against one of his friend’s rompong, causing tension in Aldi’s mooring to the seabed.

The Weather Above the Surface Affects the Waters Below

What seemed like a routine, fun time on the job had quickly turned into a nightmare in a matter of minutes. The powerful winds and weather above the surface of the water was starting to affect what was happening below the surface. It didn’t seem like there could be much for any of them to do except hold on and let the weather pass. But just when they thought it couldn’t get any worse, the unthinkable had happened.

The Dependent Traits of the Job

Can you imagine being left alone in the open sea, completely dependent on others to help you survive for months? The fisherman on the rompong weren’t just dependent on others to bring them supplies and transport them when their mission was over, though. They were dependent on the mooring that kept them anchored and afloat. Meaning that if their rope snapped, they would just drift into the open waters without any capabilities of sailing their boat or getting back to shore.
And that's exactly what happened.

A Storm that Was Anything but Calm

Part of the job as a lamp-keeper required you to be okay with handling these types of situations in open waters. This time around though, the storm that had approached them was anything but gentle, and the rough waters were creating chaos on the seabed. But before they all knew it; the situation had escalated quickly. After so much strain and tension from the storm and Aldi’s rompong rubbing up on his friend’s, the rope mooring Aldi down to the sea floor had snapped, causing his rompong to drift away into the open sea with no anchor.

Not Once, Twice, But Thrice

The line tethering of the rompong had snapped, and what seemed as surreal as a drama film, was actually Aldi’s reality. Instead of panicking though, Aldi continued to remain calm. Surprisingly enough, this wasn’t even the first time this had happened to Aldi. In fact, it had happened on two other missions before. Because of this, he knew exactly what to do. As soon as the rope had snapped and he started drifting away, Aldi instantly grabbed his radio and informed his friends to contact and phone his boss immediately.

Knowing What to Do in an Emergency

This was Aldi’s third time in three years dealing with an incident like this. Since his boss owns multiple rompongs, he might have been alone on his personal hut, but there were others around for him to be in contact with if something like this happens. That’s why he immediately reached for his walkie-talkie as soon as he started drifting away, knowing he would soon be out of range from the radio signal at any moment. However, this incident was going to be far more intense than anything he thought he was prepared for.

Waiting for the Rescue Boat

After a chaotic morning, Aldi knew that the best thing to do was to stay calm and wait to be rescued. As the tide calmed down and the sun began to set, he began to dose off and rested until the next day. The past couple of times that this had happened, Aldi was rescued immediately, which is why on his first day alone at sea, he knew not to stress. When he woke up, he remained near his hut’s door, and waited patiently for the rescue boat all day to come and save him from his unplanned open water journey. But nobody showed up.

First Day Alone at Sea

Aldi’s first day alone at sea, and there was no sign of a rescue boat coming. No matter how scary that may seem, he still remained calm. He knew that the waters were still quite rough, and perhaps the rescue ship wasn’t able to get to him because of this. He had enough supplies to last him for the next few days, and surely someone would come and rescue him before running out of food or water would even be an issue to think about.

Minutes Turned into Hours

Aldi was used to keeping to himself, even though this type of isolation was a whole lot more intense and different than when he was moored down to the seabed, a few miles away from the next rompong. But when the minutes turned into hours, and the hours turned into days, Aldi started to have a change of heart. Several days had passed, and there was no sign or any form of rescue at all. So what did this mean for Aldi? What was going to happen?

Fifth Day Alone at Sea

Aldi did his best to remain calm the first few days alone at sea. He had experienced his rompong’s rope snapping and drifting off to sea before – just not for this long. By day five, his walkie-talkie started to lose signal, which signified to him that any chance of communicating to anyone who might be able to see and save him was decreasing by the minute, too. Not just that, but all of his necessary supplies were running low. It was then that he started to panic and had no idea what to do or what to expect.

The Calm Before the “Emotional” Storm

A week had gone by and all of Aldi’s supplies had run out. He had no more food, no more water, and no more cooking gas. The 19-years-old boy was stranded at sea and an emotional storm had been brewing all week long. He went from being calm and collected on the first day to stressed and terrified a week later. While he knew he needed to remain brave and hopeful, it had gotten to the point where he felt like there was no hope at all.

Being Stuck in Limbo

There were many times where he couldn’t stop himself from just crying. Aldi might have been working at this job for years, but this poor teenage boy was just trying to help support his family. And now he wasn’t even sure if he was ever going to see them again. Being stuck in this limbo of not knowing what to do, whether he would survive or not, or even how to survive started to overwhelm him. And the more he cried, the more of a risk he was putting himself in for dehydration.

What Would Aldi’s Parents Do?

As Aldi started to think about his parents, and how the last time he saw them might have been the last, something else popped into his head. He remembered that they would always emphasize and remind him the importance of prayer. Fortunately, he even had a bible with him on board, so whenever he started to feel hopeless, he did his best to keep his faith in a high power and would pray. And without him even knowing, it was then that things started to change.

The Start of Survival Mode

As scared as Aldi was, he knew he needed to do his best to stay strong and hopeful in order to survive. He automatically turned into survival mode once he realized that he was out of supplies and had to figure out how to keep going and stay alive until he was rescued. Seeing as he was literally aboard a floating fishing trap, he was able to catch fish and eat them. However, without any cooking gas, how would he be able to cook the raw fish in order to eat it without getting sick?

Aldi’s Top-Quality Key Survival Trait

Aldi wasn’t just a good worker because he was diligent, he was also quite resourceful, to his benefit. And being able to think on his feet and figure out how to survive with limited supplies was clearly crucial in a job with conditions like this. But his resourcefulness wasn’t only useful at his job, it’s one of the most important factors that was going to help him get through this distressing situation. Especially when it came to handling his incredibly critical dilemma of now lacking food and water.

You, Your Floating Hut, and the Open Sea

If you were in Aldi’s situation what would you do? It’s just you, your floating hut, and the open sea. The unthinkable had happened and all of his supplies were completely limited and almost gone. He needed to stay dry, warm, hydrated, and nourished somehow. And even though he was terrified and had thoughts of giving up, he somehow found a resilient strength and figured out how to survive. When Aldi ran out of gas and fuel to cook food, he used the rompong’s wooden border and fence to start a fire. Pretty clever, right?

Challenges of the Crashing Waves

Thankfully, Aldi was able to think of a way to start a fire by cutting off pieces of his floating hut and burning it. And for any of you who have gone camping or started a bonfire before, you know how important it is to make sure that the wood you’re burning isn’t wet. So, we can only imagine how challenging it must have been for Aldi to be able to start a fire if any of the wood had gotten wet from the splashes and crashes of the water’s waves. What did Aldi do about drinking-water, though?

Days Had Turned into Weeks

The hours that had turned into days, were now days that had turned into weeks. Within Aldi’s very first week stranded at sea, he had finished all of his supplies. He didn’t know how long it was going to be until he was rescued – that is, if anyone was ever going to find him. Anytime Aldi has seen a ship in the distance, he got hopeful did whatever he could to wave them down and get their attention. Whether it was by lighting the lamps on his rompong or trying to send out a message on his radio signal, he tried his hardest to be seen and heard whenever he had the chance.

Almost a Dozen Ships Passed By

Not one, not two, not three, but by the time one month stranded at sea came around, Aldi had spotted ten ships! And any time he had seen any sort of vessel distance, he regained hope and would give it his all when it came to flagging them down to come rescue him. But alas, it always ended the same way. Not even one of them had seen him. Over a month had gone by at this point, and still he had not been found or rescued. Over the weeks, an indescribable devastation rained upon Aldi every single time a vessel had passed by without noticing him.

A Small Voice in His Head

Although this poor, young man was filled with so much despair, there was still a small voice in the back of his head telling him to keep going. Not to give up. He had absolutely no idea when he would be rescued, but a small part of him felt that he needed to keep on surviving no matter what. And with all of that in mind, after his very first week alone at sea, he realized he needed to use whatever supplies he did have, in very small portions. And when it came to water, he thought of and created his own filtration system.

Staying Hydrated Was the Most Important Challenge

It’s common knowledge that humans can survive about a month without any food absorption, but when it comes to water, we will only last about three days. So, fire and food weren’t his only challenges – in fact, it wasn’t even the most crucial one. He needed to make sure to stay hydrated, and thankfully he was able to collect water on the days that it rained. But he also had to conserve enough water for the days that it didn’t rain. And unfortunately, there were quite a few days where it didn’t rain. So, what did he do?

Desperate Times Called for Desperate Measures

On the days that it had rained, Aldi was able to collect water to drink. But on the days that it didn’t rain or if he had run out of water, he needed to resort to something you never would have thought of. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and although drinking sea water is incredibly dangerous and might even dehydrate you even more due to the salt level, Aldi had no choice. However, the brilliantly creative teenager figured out an ingenious way to filter it out. Aldi used his wet clothes to filter out the salt from the sea water.

Three Sips and Raw Fish

Through all of the hardships and unimaginable conditions, Aldi was able to creatively survive for the next few weeks. Still, though, his supplies were limited. The wood that he was burning from his hut wasn’t going to last him forever, especially since it was also his source of shelter. Which meant that he couldn’t cook meals every day, forcing him to eat raw fish. And since he didn’t know how long he would be lost at sea for, he had to be strict with the amount of water he was drinking. Which is why he allowed himself only three sips of water per day. Hard to believe, right?

Big, Gray Fins

If things didn’t seem challenging or scary enough, there was actually one more challenge that Aldi had to face. Aldi might have been safe aboard on his floating hut, but it wasn’t just a little house on water. It was an actual fishing trap, and small fish to eat wasn’t the only aquatic animal that it had attracted. There were times when Aldi had seen big, gray fins popping out from above water. We’re sure you can guess what that meant, even without cueing the Jaws theme song music.

Praying Away the Sharks

That’s right, there were times when Aldi and his hut was surrounded and circled by sharks. But at that point, there was nothing that Aldi could do except pray. All he did was pray that the sharks would go away, and eventually, they did. It’s amazing to know that such a young adolescent was able to be strong, courageous, and resilient even in the scariest of times. We revealed now how he was able to physically survive, but how was he able to mentally endure it all though?

Aldi’s Daily Routine

As each day passed by, Aldi had kept to a very specific routine. He would wake up in the morning and catch fish for his meals. A few hours later in the afternoon, he would rest on the raft in order to conjure up energy to cook his meals. And in the evening, he would pull out his bible and pray until he fell asleep. He had kept to this routine for seven weeks straight, and although it didn’t always help with his feeling of panic and distress, it’s what kept him sane and going. And on his 48th day at sea, Aldi decided to sing himself to sleep with spiritual songs.

Day 49 Alone at Sea

Although Aldi had a strict routine, if he had seen a ship in the distance, he would, of course, do his best to flag it down. Even if that meant it would take up all of his energy for the rest of the day. The morning of day 49, after seeing over a dozen ships passed by since he had been stranded at sea, he had spotted a large ship nearby. He started to wave a piece of cloth and yell in order to get its attention. But nobody could see or hear him. And that’s when he recalled something a friend had always told him to do if he was ever in this type of dire situation.

The Magic Word That Saved Him

In the adrenaline-rushed mind of Aldi during the moment he had spotted a ship nearby, he remembered something very important that one of his friends once told him. Aldi was from Indonesia and didn’t know any other languages. But his friend had taught him the English word, “Help”, and told him to yell that if he was ever in need of actual help. Aldi grabbed his walkie-talkie immediately and yelled the magic word: “Help, help, help!”

Spotting Aldi’s Rompong

It was in that very moment that Aldi had remembered the magic word that just might get him saved: “Help!”. And to his luck, the team on the vessel had heard his distressed call over their radios and were ready to save him as quickly as possible! But it wasn’t going to be that easy. The vessel in the distance wasn't just a boat, it was a bulk carrier ship, meaning it was massively larger than Aldi’s little hut. So by the time the team had spotted Aldi had his hut, they needed to come up with a safe plan to get him from his hut to their ship.

Making His Journey Even More Adventurous

The size of the vessel that was ready to save Aldi was so massive, that whenever they tried to get close to his rompong, the waves would cause the current to be choppy and chaotic. But Aldi wasn’t going to give up and just wanted this whole nightmare to be over and done with. As if his journey wasn’t adventurous enough, that’s when the brave, ambitious teenager decided to jump into the water and swim to the ship itself. Through the choppy, deep waves of the current, Aldi swam all the way to the ship and grabbed onto the rope ladder the crew had dangled down for him.

Aldi’s Last Day Alone at Sea

After 49 days, literally seven weeks stranded all alone at sea, Aldi was finally found and rescued. As he dove into the rough waters to swim to the ship, the team was ready to pull him up by the rope ladder once he latched on for his life. As soon as they lifted him up the boat, they grabbed some towels to dry and warm him up, and the ship’s Captain contacted the Guam’s Coast Guard. The Captain got further instructions to head to the ship’s final destination in at Tokuyama, Japan, and from there the consulate would aid Aldi to get back home safely.

“We’re Going to Celebrate”

It turns out that for the past seven weeks, Aldi had drifted a total of about 1,200 miles away from his original siting in Indonesia all the way to the open waters in Guam. Aldi was found on August 30, and the ship had finally docked to Japan on September 6. And finally, after months of not seeing his family, on September 9 Aldi made it home and reunited with his family. While nobody knew whether Aldi was going to survive or not, everyone was beyond overjoyed and happy that he had finally returned home safely and soundly. And not just that, but he arrived just in time for his birthday. “We’re going to celebrate,” Aldi’s mom shared with New York Post. What about Aldi’s job though?

Changing the Fishing Industry

Although this had happened to Aldi a couple times before, after this incident, Aldi’s story was going to change the industry for the better. According to the New York Post, Jefri Sagune, chairman of the Indonesian Small Fishermen Association contacted the government requesting them to supply GPS tracking systems and devices for fishermen and lamp-keepers like Aldi. Aldi is incredibly thankful to be alive and back with his family, which is why he’s chosen not to return to the sea anytime soon.