I'm still not sure how accurately this is being reported.
Given the Guardian link though, the broken mast would explain the great course drift. I continue to be perplexed regarding preps. They consulted with veteran sailors who told them to stock up on food, but again, nobody mentioned any kind of comms, not even just a personal EPIRB? I'm not a veteran sailor, but EPIRBs, sat phones, etc. seem like one of those "common knowledge" things at this point in time, let alone knowledge for anyone who travels out of sight of land. I think USCG even has that kind of stuff in their boating primers. I'd be curious to know if the more experienced of the two had ever taken a USCG boating course.
They are again using the term "water purifier", only this article says that it "broke". I am curious for how long and how much bottled water they had with them. Maybe they were catching rainwater. Given other stuff that happened, I question their ability to repair a desalinator. Perhaps broken wasn't broken (PEBDAS*). Also, "food ran low"? I thought they had enough for a year? Even after the dog food ran out, they should have still had several months at time of rescue.
At any rate, I continue to be interested in new and hopefully more accurate information that comes out on the incident.
*Problem Exists Between Desalinator And Sailor