Shipwrecked in the world's largest ocean

Lucky yachtsman Abhilash Tomy to be rescued from the Southern Ocean, remarkably close to the track from my singlehanded voyage around the world.

He was both lucky to be rescued and very lucky that the calamity happened these days when world-wide communication is so efficient.

The yachtsman was able to call for help when he was injured in the Golden Globe round the world yacht race, a very long way from civilisation in the mighty Southern Ocean.

He seems to have been almost midway between South Africa and Australia.

On my circumnavigation, the yacht Spirit of Pentax was rolled quite close to South Africa.

Broken ribs

The schooner’s foremast was badly damaged, and as my book of the voyage records, Loner, I was hurt with what I took to be a few broken ribs.

Lucky Globe’s Abhilash Tomy, according to the news reports, was able to lie in his berth till help arrived.

How amazing, it seems to me, because on my journey I was unable to get anyone to hear of my distress.

The choice at that time was to lie down and die, or get up on deck somehow.

And - somehow, in spite of the rather painful injuries - I'd have to reinforce the damaged foremast with some ropes. That included climbing the mast, a not-too-simple achievement with a very painful chest, and then staying the mast somehow with an assortment of rope stays, and once that was managed, to sail for the nearest land.

The Cape of Good Hope was just over the stern, but Southern Ocean currents would never let a damaged yacht go against the eastward stream.

Perth lay a little more than 4,000 miles off, and the yacht and I sailed at not much more than two or three knots towards the city and hope.

Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventure book, Sailing to Purgatory, at SailingToPurgatory.com