The women were sailing from Hawaii to Tahiti when their engine broke down in bad weather in late May. They believed they could still reach Tahiti using their sails.

The women, identified by the Navy as Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava, from Honolulu, were rescued on Wednesday after a Taiwanese fishing vessel spotted them about 1,500 kilometres south-east of Japan, well off their planned course, and alerted the United States coast guard.

The Navy’s USS Ashland arrived early the next day.

“They saved our lives,” Ms Appel said in a statement released by the Navy.

“The pride and smiles we had when we saw [US Navy] on the horizon was pure relief.”

Source
ABC News