36 days – that's how long Jamaican fishermen 35-year-old Anthony Hibbert, and 25-year-old Jason Noble spent adrift at sea. During that time, they watched three of their mates die from hunger and dehydration and then had to throw their decomposing bodies overboard. But they survived – and a part of that is because the boat they were on, the 33-foot Gentle Breeze – was a fully equipped fishing vessel – including a sheltered area with beds, and a stove with an auto light. They also had a speargun – and both are divers. But out on the high seas for over a month with no provisions – none of that really counts – which was proved by the fact that the three others perished.

So why did these two men survive? Speaking from the BDF Hospital at Price Barracks, they told us they were willing to eat some things that the others simply wouldn't.

Anthony Hibbert
"We drift from Peter Bank to near to Mexico when the boat find we and carry come to Belize. It's five ah we and three died. We eat a lot of things to survive. Anything we can swallow, we eat. Drink sea water, drink morass, all type ah tings. Beg fi di rain fi fall [to] get some water fi drink. All when a man just dead, right there some rain fall then we still have to drink di wata fi survive because we say there's life, there's hopes."

Jules Vasquez, Reporting
"When you see your sea mates dying, how could you not just despair, lose hope and say, ‘Man, we will die too?"

Anthony Hibbert
"Well, I tell dem [to] eat what I eat, but dem no want eat it. Because I eat the morass and I drink di sea water."

Jules Vasquez, Reporting
"So they didn't want to eat the morass?"

Anthony Hibbert
"No dem say dem naa eat it. Dem stomach cyaan tek it."

Jules Vasquez, Reporting
"And where was the morass accumulating?"

Anthony Hibbert
"On the boat bottom. So we go over board eena di deep and scrape it off. Scrape it off with wi hand and come eena di boat and squeeze out the sea water outa it and try eat it."

Jason Noble
"Me have to drink my pee-pee. That da di first ting me do to get wata -- drink pee pee eena mi hand. When mi wahn pee pee, me pee pee eena mi hand and drink it, pee pee and drink everytime. First, di man dem ask me how me look so hydrate and dem look so down. And me tell dem. Me no shame fi tell dem…so if they want drink it, they must drink it too."

"So comes we get to stay alive – powers of Father God. And we pass over more than 100 ship and no ship no stop to we. One ship stop and shine its light by night and one stop and wait till the daylight and den drive way leave we. They nevah do nutting for us."

Jules Vasquez,
"So these people on the ship saw you all and were aware that you all are stranded? And adrift? And they just moved on?"

Anthony Hibbert
"We dont really know if them see we. but we can see dem [walking on the ship.]"

Jules Vasquez
"But didn't you all try to shout at them." Anthony Hibbert
"Yeah, we shout and wave and light fire. Cut di big drum them. Big 50 power. Throw gas eena it and light it. Throw sponge eena light it. Di more we light it, di more dem keep away from we. so we say we don't know if [it's fire they are afraid of] or what."

Jules Vasquez
"How did you all feel when someone finally acknowledged you? What was that moment like?"

Jason Noble
"We just give up eena di boat. We just give up and say we a go dead. We nah going live again and we pray. Because we no have no more food. Him lie down pahn one ah di bed and me lie down pahn one. And di two a we say we naa live again because we no have no way to survive. And we naa have di strength fi go hunt nutting overboard again. Him siddung and lean up and I say bway we naa mek it. And I say bway ih haad but we ah try. And if God say we fi live, then we a live, and if God say we fi dead, da wi destiny, we a go dead."

"And then we see a ship run cross we...As he say that me try see di ship and me cyaan see it. When we look, da di ship di come [bear down on us.] And then we hear the horn blow…First time we ever hear a ship horn blow from all di ship dem we see. Then we start smile. Me a smile and cry at the same time. Because me feel dead and me feel live. And everyday me see dead, me noh see no life from me left. From the engine bruk down, everyday dead me see and everyday me have to encourage everybody to try to stay alive. And only one man want stay alive and da this man. Everybody else say dem noh a go live and only one man gi mi strgnth and he da di youngest youth."

And one trio of men eager to hear their story are the Jamaican Fishermen from Punta Gorda. You remember them, right? That's the group that blew up in the news in December of last year when the arrived in Punta Gorda. Well, they're still here, and in an amazing coincidence, they are from the same village Rocky Point, Clarendon as Hibbert and Noble! More than that, Derek Osbourne the director of the Jamaican fishing group used to be their boss.

When he heard the news this morning, he headed straight form PG to see them. He told us that he had been following their plight from they were lost in Jamaica – and what a surprise now to meet them here.

Derek Osbourne, Jamaican Fisherman
"That was in Jamaica, and then I saw it on the news and government was searching. Everybody was doing their best to see if they could try to locate it. But the family still hold that they gonna be alive. They are drifting and so forth. So i came to Belize about two weeks ago. And when I heard this morning that they got picked up. I am in PG. so I drove up to seem them because I know that they gonna need some support from somebody who knows them and who can understand basically, identify with them. Because we go way back. They are from my village, from rocky point. They fish for me. In Jamaica, they fish for me. But these two came from my village. I know them. .....These guys, we grow up together with their father and so forth... So it's good seeing them. Really, really good and its good that its in Belize they showed up, that at least somebody here who already know them who can come and identify them. .... Being Belize, the place where people are warm and friendly, and people reach out to help their Caricom partners so its good.

Jason Noble
"I'm looking forward to getting back home. Because my family's dying to see me. They all tink me die already. And they surprise and feel overwhelmed to know that I am alive and know that I am a survivor."

Noble and Hibbert say that they will continue to work as fishermen. Strictly speaking they are not fishermen; they are both divers who use spearguns. They both come from families who do the same. They became so weak at the end of their ordeal that they could not go into the sea to spear any fish.

The three who perished are only know by their aliases, Katu, Clement, and Ferron. They have already contacted their own families and one of the deceased men's families.

Currently, plans have not been finalized to return them to Jamaica.