- Jan 7, 2002
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Shipwrecked pair survive 11 days in raft without water
Hanoi (dpa) - An Australian captain and his New Zealander first mate survived 11 terrifying days in a storm-battered life raft with no food or water before being picked up by Vietnamese fishermen, the sailors related today.
Mark Wesley Smith and Steven John Freeman clung desperately to their life raft as storms flipped it over and over for days on end.
They ate nothing for 11 days, licked rainwater off the raft and later were forced to drink their own urine after a wave swept away their carefully prepared emergency supplies within minutes of their yacht sinking.
"We were left with just a paddle and a sponge," said Smith, 49, of Hobart, Tazmania. "We battled for our lives with almost nothing. It was just sheer willpower that kept us alive."
"It's unreal. It's unbelievable," said Freeman, 30, of Nelson, New Zealand. "The Vietnamese have been so fantastic - they dragged us out of the water and everyone has been unbelievably wonderful to us."
Smith and Freeman spoke by telephone from Ly Son Island, off the central Vietnamese coast, where they are being treated after fishermen pulled them out of the water Saturday about five kilometers offshore.
The captain and his mate set off from Hong Kong on December 5 to deliver a 65-foot motor yacht to Australia for the owner. But within a day, one of the yacht's engines failed and the seas started to get rough.
Smith said he had turned the yacht around about 200 kilometers off of Hong Kong to try to make it back to port, but a "monster wave" crashed over the bow and bashed a hole in the hull.
"We sank in 60 seconds and the very next wave flipped the life raft just as we were zipping in," Smith said. "It was unbelievable bad luck. All our flares, radio, water and food - just gone."
The torrential rains of the storm allowed the men to at least drink fresh water - though they had to lick it off the sides of the raft because they had no container to catch it in. But after three days, the rains stopped, leaving only winds that Smith said never dropped below 35 knots.
"Every day, the raft was flipped and flipped again," Smith said. "We did all the horrible stuff like drink our own stuff. But the nights were the worst."
Both men's greatest fear, Smith said, was that the other would be swept away, leaving one man alone to face the sea. "It definitely helped to be with someone. We said if one of us went, that would be the worst thing."
Just before dawn on their 11th day at sea, the two saw the lights of Ly Son Island and tried to paddle towards it. But their raft was battered by the shallow reef that surrounds the island.
Vietnamese fishermen coming out to see for the first day after a week of storms spotted the life raft in trouble and rescued them.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=68610
Hanoi (dpa) - An Australian captain and his New Zealander first mate survived 11 terrifying days in a storm-battered life raft with no food or water before being picked up by Vietnamese fishermen, the sailors related today.
Mark Wesley Smith and Steven John Freeman clung desperately to their life raft as storms flipped it over and over for days on end.
They ate nothing for 11 days, licked rainwater off the raft and later were forced to drink their own urine after a wave swept away their carefully prepared emergency supplies within minutes of their yacht sinking.
"We were left with just a paddle and a sponge," said Smith, 49, of Hobart, Tazmania. "We battled for our lives with almost nothing. It was just sheer willpower that kept us alive."
"It's unreal. It's unbelievable," said Freeman, 30, of Nelson, New Zealand. "The Vietnamese have been so fantastic - they dragged us out of the water and everyone has been unbelievably wonderful to us."
Smith and Freeman spoke by telephone from Ly Son Island, off the central Vietnamese coast, where they are being treated after fishermen pulled them out of the water Saturday about five kilometers offshore.
The captain and his mate set off from Hong Kong on December 5 to deliver a 65-foot motor yacht to Australia for the owner. But within a day, one of the yacht's engines failed and the seas started to get rough.
Smith said he had turned the yacht around about 200 kilometers off of Hong Kong to try to make it back to port, but a "monster wave" crashed over the bow and bashed a hole in the hull.
"We sank in 60 seconds and the very next wave flipped the life raft just as we were zipping in," Smith said. "It was unbelievable bad luck. All our flares, radio, water and food - just gone."
The torrential rains of the storm allowed the men to at least drink fresh water - though they had to lick it off the sides of the raft because they had no container to catch it in. But after three days, the rains stopped, leaving only winds that Smith said never dropped below 35 knots.
"Every day, the raft was flipped and flipped again," Smith said. "We did all the horrible stuff like drink our own stuff. But the nights were the worst."
Both men's greatest fear, Smith said, was that the other would be swept away, leaving one man alone to face the sea. "It definitely helped to be with someone. We said if one of us went, that would be the worst thing."
Just before dawn on their 11th day at sea, the two saw the lights of Ly Son Island and tried to paddle towards it. But their raft was battered by the shallow reef that surrounds the island.
Vietnamese fishermen coming out to see for the first day after a week of storms spotted the life raft in trouble and rescued them.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=68610
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