The Irishman and his partner were brought to safety in Sydney on Wednesday night.
A 55-year old Irish national and his French partner were rescued by a police boat on Wednesday night after their yacht capsized approximately 200 nautical miles north-east of Sydney.
According to ABC News, 55-year-old Irish national Nick Dwyer and his partner, 44-year-old French national Barbara Heftman, were sailing between Australia and New Zealand when their yacht capsized, leaving them up against huge waves that Dwyer described as “the size of buildings”.
Gale-force winds and sizeable waves forced Dwyer and his partner to activate an emergency radio beacon on Tuesday after they had been sailing without a beacon for three days.
“We encountered enormous seas, waves the size of buildings coming at you constantly, winds that you can’t stand up in, seas breaking, whiteness everywhere,” said Dwyer of the experience, before they were rescued by a police rescue boat and Wednesday and brought to safety, unharmed, on Wednesday night.
Dwyer and his partner were living on the yacht as part of a 10-year circumnavigation of the globe and plan on staying in Sydney on a three-month visa while their boat is retrieved and they figure out what to do next.
For the time being, they’re just happy to be alive and Dwyer expressed his deep gratitude to those involved in the rescue mission.
“There’s a crew of guys who were not on duty and all volunteered, knowing what sort of seas they were going out to, to rescue two complete strangers,” Dwyer said.
“They’re complete heroes.
“It’s truly amazing to think that somebody’d come that far to save us, to save our lives.
“I owe them my life. We owe them our lives. You can’t put that into words.”
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