Woman Spends Almost Two Days Adrift At Sea In Rubber Dinghy

A woman spent almost two days adrift at sea in a rubber dinghy after she was blown off course while trying to get back to a yacht.

Kushila Stein, from New Zealand, ended up lost in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Crete, after she decided to hop off the yacht she was on and take a dinghy to the Greek island of Folegandros to go for a walk and stretch her legs.

Hellenic coastguard

Speaking to Stuff, Stein's mum Wendy said her daughter messaged the yacht's skipper on Friday afternoon saying she would be heading back to the boat, but when she didn't turn up a couple of hours later he assumed she had just decided to stay on the island a bit longer.

Little did he know that Stein had lost an oar and was blown miles off course with nothing but a handful of boiled sweets to live off.

She told her mum she had initially had some concerns about trying to row the dinghy back to the yacht because the wind had 'picked up a bit', but said she decided to press on as she didn't think the boat was very far off.

The oar then went overboard, and Stein and the dinghy were left stranded and drifting out to sea.

When skipper Mike woke up at 5am the next morning and there was still no sign of her, he called the police, who got in touch with the coastguard and a rescue mission was launched.

Fortunately, Stein had been trained in sea survival, something which her mum credits with saving her life.

She wrapped herself in plastic bags to keep warm and dry and, although she had no fresh water, rationed out the sweets to keep herself going.

Hellenic coastguard

Heartbreakingly, Wendy revealed her daughter had prepared herself for the worst, telling Stuff: "She also told me she wrote down my name and number and attached [the info] to the dinghy so they would know who to contact if they found her and she was dead."

She was eventually rescued between Crete and Folegandros after spending around 40 hours at sea, her mum said.

Once rescued, she was taken to hospital and was told she was in 'good health', despite all she'd been through.

Her relieved mum added: "She told me, 'I did everything I could to survive.' She has been trained in sea survival so is quite competent. I think that might have saved her life."

Topics: World News

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19