British teenager’s two days in a dingy
Ferry Online Travel News 27/02/2010
Survivor credits captain for steering marooned passengers
A British teenager has spoken for the first time about what went through her mind when she spent two days on a lifeboat after the boat that she and 40 others were on, capsized. Sarah Calascione was on the trip of a lifetime with two friends who paid £25,000 each to sail around the world on a Canadian sailing ship when it hit a tempest off the coast of Brazil. Hard rain and forceful waves battered the boat for ages before a freak strong wind apparently just tipped the ship over.
All 40 had managed to get aboard the life raft, which was to be their home for the next 40 hours. Ms Calascione said how she scrambled off the ship as it lurched over and to her amazement; she only sustained a slight knock to her back. She had only been on the ship a couple of weeks, and it was meant to be a five-month excursion around the world. Her mother said Sarah has plenty of sailing experience, but could not have been prepared for what happened that day.
The 19-year-old from Kingston-upon-Thames has praised the captain of the boat for his quick thinking and actions that maybe saved the lives of everyone on board the ship. William Curry, the captain, said he had warnings of strong gale force winds, but he has never experienced something as strong as that in more than 40 years of sailing. Military spotter planes and the crew saw the lifeboat and passengers were rescued by a boat early on Saturday morning.
← LD Lines and Transeuropa ferries collaborate on Ramsgate | Index | Car rental prices soaring →