After spending a year adrift and washing ashore on the Marshall Islands, El Salvador fisherman Jose Salvador Alvarenga says he is anxious to return to his family. 

Freshly shaved but still weak and exhausted.....Jose Salvador Alvarenga made his second media appearance since he washed ashore in the Marshall islands one week ago.

"I want to thank the government of this place for their support to my friends. My friends they supported me thanks for taking care of me. I feel much better .. nothing else."

Alvarenga told officials he set sail on a shark fishing trip from Mexico at the end of 2012...He was with a friend who died on board. That was some 10,000 km away....but the boat was blown off course.

Alvarenga says he is anxious to return here to El Salvador but Doctors say the fisherman is too dehydrated to travel.

Back home his mother and father say they never gave up hope their son was alive.

Alvarenga's family -- and his daughter -- are counting the moments until his return.