Lost At Sea Drifting Alert

In a lifeboat all alone at sea the mariner stopped paddling against the current stream and waited for a sign an island could be near. He longed to see a coconut tree or mountain, to break the monotony of endless lines of nothingness on the horizon. But, he knew he had to do better than wait for an island to pop up like a puppet on strings. What if he drifted past his last hope island that passed by in the stream, just below the horizon and he missed it? Surely he could read the early warning signs! So he thought, about what they could be. An island nearby would change the wave pattern by refraction, so he watched the waves intently to look for any changes. An island would change the cloud or sea mist pattern at dawn, do he took careful note of the clouds. Perhaps the birds that roosted on the island, made foraging flights over the surrounding sea would fly over head as a sign. He watched for birds. He looked for flotsam and jetsam, when the sea was calm, that could have floated off a nearby island at high tide. He had a plan to make the little things work to proactively find an island. Rather than to sit back and wait passively to maybe bump headlong into an island and to be washed ashore, and saved. All alert, and on the ball, he waited for a sign, any sign an island was near, that he could paddle towards and find his island in the stream.