Cape Town - A Cape Town surfer who fell overboard and was left floating for 27 hours in Indonesia has been rescued by a Sydney-owned private charter boat, according to reports.
Brett Archibald, 50, from Camps Bay, went missing after apparently falling from a boat while at sea in the early hours of Wednesday.
He was on a surfing trip in the Mentawai Islands, on the western coast of Sumatra. A friend reported that he had been seasick in the night and had possibly fallen overboard while being ill, while everyone else on board was asleep.
A huge search-and-rescue operation was launched by the Indonesian Maritime Rescue Authorities, aided by the RNLI (UK maritime rescue), the Australian Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Jakarta Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, and a host of private boats.
The captain of the Barrenjoey, which is owned by Sydney couple John and Belinda McGroder, reportedly found Archibald in the ocean, floating on his back about 20km from where the surfer had fallen overboard 27 hours earlier.
“Brett Archibald has boarded the Barenjoey 20 mins ago,” wrote All Aboard Travel on their Facebook. “He is alive. A bit sunburnt and dehydrated. He was floating alone. The boat is taking him to the Indies Trader III so that he can phone his wife.”
Cape Argus and IOL