Crew of ill-fated yacht arrive in South Africa
Source: Reuters
By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN, May 14 (Reuters) - Rescued crew members of the yacht Cowrie Dancer, which capsized in high seas off South Africa two weeks ago, arrived in Cape Town on Monday. Emotional relatives greeted two Australians, Nicholas Lawson, and skipper Dale Peterson, and South African Carol Erasmus, who were brought to safety by a South Africa ship. A fourth passenger, Australian John Blackman, was knocked overboard in the mayhem and is presumed dead. The South African rescue vessel SA Agulhas sailed from Marion Island in the Southern Ocean on May 1 and reached the yacht a day later. Its crew spent 24 hours searching for Blackman before returning to Marion Island on May 3. The ship left for Cape Town five days later after picking up supplies and delivered the survivors to safety on Monday. "It's good to be back on land actually," said Erasmus, whose face and body were still bruised and scarred. She recalled the chaos when giant waves first struck. "The boat broached (flipped over) and Nick went flying all the way across the yacht. I was thrown up and John was pretty much thrown out of bed, he was in his bunk at the time ... Everything was turned over in the boat," Erasmus said. Peterson's wife, Liz, expressed relief after a trying wait. "It's been the shortest and longest two weeks of my life ... Now it's great. I haven't seen my husband for six months and 19 days, so I can't wait," she said. Peterson, who needs a hip replacement after fracturing his femur, was immediately transferred by ambulance to a Cape Town hospital. The three who were brought to safety recalled how they wondered if Blackman had been able to reach a life raft in huge swells. They also contemplated their own fate, wondering "if there was somebody out there", Lawson said. A helicopter, sent ahead of the rescue ship, made contact with the yacht but could not airlift them because debris and the vessel's sails made it too dangerous. Instead a trauma medic and second mate were landed in the water and made their way to the Cowrie Dancer. Several hours lapsed before the SA Agulhas reached the yacht.
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