Well, the only times I've noticed brown-skinned people tanned was when we would go to Acapulco (we went 6 times in about 5 years) and we would always go see the cliff-divers. They were so much darker than the rest if the staff that worked for the hotel year after year. Those that worked on the beach in swimming trunks in the sun all day were also quite darker than those that worked inside. And my friend who is a Mexican and brown-skinned works in the sun during the summer and he gets quite a bit darker those months than he is in winter. But none of these men were out in the sun and wind all day long for over a year and still they got darker in the sun than the castaway is in his pictures. Course, maybe it was cloudy and overcast for the castaway's last month afloat, he stayed under a tarp/cover or his skin just doesn't darken but his relatively pale color, lack of wasting or cracked lips or lack of weathered look are what made me think he might be fudging on his tale. His turn for the worse and hospitalization sure speaks to his having been through something pretty tough.
__________________  Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |