It's Wonderful Just To Be Alive

Two sailors have told of the "unbelievable" moment coastguards saved their lives in a rescue mission in an horrendous storm.

Olof Templeman and Kevin Klinges had spent ten hours clinging to their capsized boat as they were battered by 45-foot waves and winds of up to 58 knots, around 200 miles east of Bermuda.

The pair had seen their skipper, Steve Hobley, from Devon in the UK, die from hypothermia and wash away to sea during the storm. Their 39-foot catamaran Haley was tipped upside down by a huge wave at around 5 p.m. on Monday evening.

They were eventually rescued at 3 a.m. on Tuesday when US Coast Guard petty officer Michael Ackermann swam to the boat and hauled them to safety in a steel basket attached to a helicopter.

Speaking from his hospital bed yesterday, Mr. Klinges, 33, from Idaho, said: "It was wild. We had been out there for hours and hours and all of a sudden this helicopter appeared over our heads. It was unbelievable."

He said that shortly afterwards Mr. Ackermann appeared at their feet "as if from nowhere".

Mr. Templeman, 37, from the Isle of Wight in the UK, added: "It was like we were watching one of those movies. He just popped up and said, 'how are you guys doing?'

"I was like, 'we're doing a lot better now!'. Those Coast Guard guys were so professional and really took care of our well-being. For a guy to get into the water like that ... can you believe it?"

Mr. Klinges said the pair had never allowed themselves to doubt they would survive.

"After Steve went, there's no way we were going as well," he said. "I thought come hell or high water I'm going to get out of this. There was no way I was going to give up. We were talking to each other and saying, 'we are getting out of here.'"

Both survivors were wearing storm gear, but Mr. Hobley was less well-dressed and suffered hypothermia not long after the boat capsized.

He grew delirious and unfastened his lifevest before passing away. Mr. Templeman and Mr. Klinges clung onto his body before it slipped from their grasp and was washed out to sea.

"Hypothermia set in quite quickly for Steve," said Mr. Templeman.

"He was shivering and became delirious. He was trying to remove his face shield, but we kept putting it back on for him. He was being a bit incoherent."

The trio had been delivering the boat from France, via the Portuguese island Madeira, to Fort Lauderdale.

Before they encountered the worst of the storm, weather reports had predicted winds of 35 to 45 knots.

"We knew it might be a little uncomfortable, but doable," said Mr. Templeman. "When we reached the wind, it was nothing like 45 knots - it was 50, getting up to 60. At that point, our only choice was to run with it."

They were then repeatedly lashed by waves of 40 feet and more. "There was one exceptional wave," he continued. "Just as the boat came up, that's exactly when the crest of the wave broke. It just flipped the boat over. We were upside down. There wasn't time to think, it was just happening."

A C-130 rescue aircraft from Air Station Elizabeth City, in North Carolina, appeared on the scene about three hours after the boat capsized. However, severe winds meant crews were unable to reach the pair with a life raft.

The helicopter, also from North Carolina, finally arrived seven hours later, after calling at Bermuda for refuelling.

The pair were then lifted to safety and brought to the Island at about 5.20 a.m. They were taken to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital by an ambulance waiting at Bermuda International Airport.

Both are now still in pain but recovering well and expect to be allowed out of hospital in a few days.

"We're extremely sore from head to toe - every muscle or cell in my body," said Mr. Klinges. "The waves knocked us into each other every ten or 15 seconds for ten hours."

Mr. Templeman added: "We are very elated. It's just wonderful to be alive. But it's tainted by the fact that we have lost somebody that we spent two months travelling out there with.

"It's a great relief. We are happy on the one side but sad on another — very contrasting emotions."

Paying tribute to Mr. Hobley, who is in his 50s, Mr. Klinges said: "He was an extremely competent sailor. He did everything he could. He just didn't have enough time."

Coast Guard members yesterday said the pair had been saved by their "EPIRB" beacons, which instantly notified the team via satellite of their exact location.

Mr. Templeman and Mr. Klinges reiterated those sentiments yesterday.

They also thanked the people of Bermuda for their support over the past two days.

"It's been absolutely exceptional the way everyone has been since we have been in Bermuda," said Mr. Templeman. "There isn't one person who hasn't gone out of their way to help."

Rescued sailors pay tribute to their lost Captain and friend.

Courtesy of Royal Gazette reporter Tim Smith