Jennifer Appel is an american entrepreneur in sustainable agriculture known for being rescued after getting stuck in the Pacific Ocean for nearly five months with her friend, Tasha Fuiava. ^[7] She is also a sex worker and dominatrix. ^[2]

Jennifer Appel was born and raised in Houston, Texas. During her early 20s, Jennifer suffered a motorbike crash that broke nearly every bone in her body. ^[1]

While working several jobs, she graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Landscape architecture. ^[1]

Jennifer's crash only made her more fearless.

She was a skydiving instructor later in her 20s and penned her first novel, The Original Niagara Falls Angel Falls: The Nephilim Stories Part One, in 2005 – re-released in a 'revised' edition in 2011. ^[1]

The books she has written are under the name LJ Leppa, her last name and initials written backwards.

^[1]

Jennifer Appel became an entrepreneur in the Agricultural industry later in life where she worked in cities such as Houston and Corpus Christi. ^{[5] [12]} Since she was a little girl, she has had an interest in sailing around areas such as Galveston. ^[8]

Jennifer Appel has lived in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii where she also works in vegetation and sustainable agriculture. ^[6]

After moving to Hawaii, she was on food stamps and needed to find a way to bring in cash. She decided to become a sex worker. On her FetLife, she also offers her services as a dominatrix. She has also taught couples about S&M. ^{[2] [1]}

For nearly five months, Jennifer and her friend Tasha Fuiava got stuck out in the Pacific Ocean while sailing on the Sea Nymph boat. The group had left Hawaii in the spring, bound for Tahiti, but ran into trouble on May 30 when bad weather damaged their sailboat's engine. The women decided to keep sailing, but strayed off course. ^[7]

The Sasebo-based amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD-48) rendered assistance to Jennifer and Tasha on October 25, 2017. ^[11]

On Oct. 24, they were discovered 900 miles southeast of Japan by a Taiwanese fishing vessel. The fishing vessel contacted Coast Guard Sector Guam who then coordinated with Taipei Rescue Coordination Center, the Japan Coordination Center, and the Joint Coordination Center in Honolulu to render assistance. ^[11]

Appel and Fuiava survived on a year's worth of dry goods including oatmeal, pasta and rice, the Navy said. They also had a water purifier. ^[7]

Several days after being rescued, many people starting questioning their journey, including scientists.

Appel acknowledges that she indeed contacted the Coast Guard three days after the initial set sail regarding the storm. She wouldn't speak with them again until October when they were rescued. ^[4]

When asked why she didn't send out a distress signal, Jennifer claims she wanted to leave it to “the man upstairs, who gave us grace and allowed us to be here today.”

She ckaims they had no idea sharks were around until they ran into a few that tried to obstruct their route. Scientists have pointed out that sharks don’t typically behave in the manner described by the women. Meteorologists have also pointed out the weather at the time they started their journey did not call for storms as serious as the one they say knocked them off course. ^[1]