by their 38th day as castaways, they had stored dried meat and fresh water in such quantities that they intended to begin rowing that night to speed their progress. however, they were sighted and picked up that day by the japanese fishing trawler "tokamaru ii" on her way to the panama canal. robertson, who had been keeping a journal in case they were rescued, recounted the ordeal in the 1973 book "survive the savage sea", on which the 1991 film of the same name was based.