Elvis François devoured ketchup while at sea for almost a month and now the brand is providing him a new ride for his dedication
food company, based in Pittsburgh, has made contact with the saved sailor, Elvis François, about buying him a new sailing vessel after it launched a social media campaign which was titled #FindtheKetchupBoatGuy that quickly went viral. François had abandoned his old boat when he was finally rescued.
The #FindtheKetchupBoatGuy campaign has served as a postscript of sorts to a survival saga that began in December, when currents in the Caribbean swept François’ sailboat away while he made repairs to it off the island of Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles, where he lives. Eventually, he used a mirror to flag down a passing plane, whose pilot noticed him about 120 nautical miles north-west of Colombia’s Guajira peninsula. A container ship’s crew then brought him to the port of Cartagena, where – other than some weight loss – he was given a clean bill of health, according to the Colombian navy, which announced the remarkable rescue on 18 January.