Dutch man rescued from deserted Bahamas island 3 days after getting stranded
The United States Coast Guard rescued a 64-year-old Dutchman from a deserted island in the Bahamas after he had been stranded there for three days. The man managed to get his rescuers' attention by writing “SOS” in the sand and setting off flares, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard reported the rescue on Thursday last week. The Dutchman got stranded on Cay Sal, a tiny uninhabited island between Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas, after his sailboat broke. Pictures released by the coast guard suggest the man had fashioned a shelter using sails and plastic sheets.
Three days after getting marooned, the man finally got someone’s attention. The Coast Guard spotted “a disabled sailboat firing flares near Cay Sal,” the Coast Guard said in a press release. It deployed an aircrew, which located the stranded man and dropped him food, water, and a radio to establish contact.
“The man notified the crew that he’d been stranded for three days after his vessel became disabled during his voyage,” the Coast Guard said. The Coast Guard Cutter Paul Clark’s crew diverted to the island to retrieve the man. “The crew transferred the man to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in good health.”
A spokesperson for the Coast Guard said they were proud to have saved this man’s life. “This case serves as a perfect example of why you must have the proper safety equipment on your vessel. Without seeing the flare, the case may not have had a successful outcome.”
