Tongan castaways

After a storm wrecked the boat, they drifted to the abandoned, remote island of ʻAta and managed to keep themselves in good order for the duration under the circumstances.

[6] Over the next eight days, they drifted for almost 320 km (200 mi) generally southwest, bailing water from their disintegrating boat until they sighted ʻAta; at that point, they abandoned their ship and swam to shore over the next 36 hours, using planks salvaged from the wreck.

Initially, they were desperate for food and water, but their situation improved after three months when they discovered the ruins of the village of Kolomaile in the island's volcanic crater, following a two-day climb.

[8] They revived the remnants of 19th century habitation, surviving on feral chickens, wild taro, and bananas; they captured rainwater for drinking in hollowed-out tree trunks.

[5] The breakup of their raft was fortunate in retrospect, as the boys believed they were in Samoa and had started sailing south into the open ocean.

[10] After spotting the unkempt, naked boys through binoculars, Just David approached cautiously, as Warner had been told that serious criminals were sometimes marooned on remote islands.

[12] When the boys did not show up for a party Warner was holding in their honour, he learned they had been arrested because the owner of the stolen boat pressed charges against them.

The Channel 7 television crew sailed with Warner and the boys back to ʻAta to film a re-enactment of their story, The Castaways,[4] which was broadcast in October 1966.

[16] In late September 2024, Finnish metal band Nightwish released a song on their album, Yesterwynde, called "The Children of 'Ata".