438 Days cover art

438 Days

One man's incredible story of survival against all odds

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

438 Days

By: Jonathan Franklin
Narrated by: George Newbern
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

The incredible true survival story of fisherman Salvador Alvarenga – and his record-breaking fourteen months lost at sea.

On 17th November, 2012, Salvador Alvarenga left the coast of Mexico for a two-day fishing trip. A vicious storm killed his engine and the current dragged his boat out to sea. The storm picked up and carried him West, deeper into the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Alvarenga would not touch solid ground again for fourteen months.

When he was washed ashore on January 30th, 2014, he had drifted over 9,000 miles.

Not one ship stopped for him. He considered suicide on multiple occasions – including offering himself up to a pack of circling sharks. But Alvarenga developed a method of survival that kept his body and mind intact long enough for the Pacific Ocean to spit him up onto a remote palm-studded island.

Based on extensive interviews with Alvarenga, his colleagues, search and rescue officials, and the people who saved his life, 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin is an epic, inspirational tale of survival – and one man's incredible story of beating the ultimate odds.

For readers of Touching the Void and In the Heart of the Sea.

'A fascinating, action-packed account of long-term survival on the open seas' – Kirkus Reviews

 Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Sailing Sailing & Boating Water Sports Survival Inspiring Fishing

Critic reviews

A fascinating, action-packed account of long-term survival on the open seas
All stars
Most relevant
I would certainly have died in the first 2 hours. Before the storm probably. Maybe now I’ll potentially survive 24!

Fascinating survival story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The feelings of isolation and loneliness are so well conveyed in this book. At times it quite hard to imagine that this actually happened to Salvador. The end of the book documents his struggles with returning to civilisation very well too, answering a lot of questions about PTSD and Salvador’s recovery.

Excellent account of an amazing voyage

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I heard this in one sitting, very hard to stop listening a simply amazing story.

Amazing tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent read, quite hard to put down. Can't imagine there are many people who could have survived such a horrific ordeal.

An outstandingly brave and remorseful human being.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
good narrator. well written. brings you into his world. well expressed and inspiring. a good read

good expressing of his thinking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews