The Greek Coast Guard speaks of a "large-scale rescue operation": According to their own information, the task forces have managed to rescue a woman on the high seas after almost two days. The 47-year-old is in good health.
The woman comes from New Zealand according to the newspaper "New Zealand Herald". It helped a Brit to navigate his yacht from southern Turkey to Athens. The two had been traveling for three weeks.
Near the Greek island of Folegandros, the woman decided to go ashore. She got into a dinghy and went for a paddle. On Friday afternoon she wrote her travel partner by SMS that she was on her way back to the yacht. However, she had lost a helm, winds had seized and aborted, the newspaper reported, citing the mother of the woman.
Experienced sailor
The next morning, the man on the yacht alerted the Coast Guard. The searched for their own information with several ships and a helicopter for the woman. She was finally found on Sunday morning southwest of the island Folegandros.
The mother of the wife said her daughter was an experienced sailor. After her first night at sea, she put her socks to dry over the boat so she could wear them when it got cold at night. She used plastic bags as gloves; During the day she put a red bag over her head to be easier to find.
In the event of her death, she had written her mother's number and address on the boat, according to the New Zealand Herald. She had no water, but a handful of sweets. These have eaten them gradually.
After her rescue, she called her mother and said, "I had another lollipop left, Mum."