Ok lets follow that argument...



>"12 sub saharan africans trying to reach Europe have died from thirst and hunger in the Algerian desert. according to survivors of the failed journey who returned to northern Mali the group ran out of food and water after their truck broke down between the Algerian border and the town of Tamanrasset. (source: AFP)"

[www.noborder.org]

And that's only one of multiple such stories... so apparently you need special preparation to survive a drift... even in the smaller Atlantic...

The most likely explanation for the pause between the early colonization of the western Pacific and the much later colonization of the central and eastern Pacific, was the need or time to develop such tech and survival steps...

By that I mean the later survivals weren't the first to try, they were the first to make it alive...

I was on a tall ship that did a "week long sail" from Spain to the Trinidad with busted engine for repair/refit back in the 70s... We spent just 7 days becalmed, and it seemed like forever!!! Since the desalination (old fashioned steam distilled with a condenser to make drinking water) wouldn't function without a working engine, we ran very short of food and water before we made it...
Spread some sails spread horizontally for rainwater? You betcha we did... too bad there were a total of two brief showers the whole time. We got enough water total for maybe one day...

Radio for evac? Yes, once closer, but a ship abandoned can be claimed by tying a rope to it... sure would have ruined our pay and bonus...

Just drift my Irish A##... anyone who thinks it's that simple, needs some time adrift to contemplate... it is a lot scarier than one thinks it would be... ask any of those dead Africans.