The new year brought a happy surprise for Australian sailor Kris Larsen who has been rescued off the coast of Hawaii after his homemade boat was knocked off course on a journey from Panama to Australia. It is claimed Mr Larsen spent 100 days at sea before being picked up.
His vessel, the Kehaar Darwin, was towed by a United States Coast Guard response boat to Sugar Beach on Maui.
With his sails in very poor condition, it appeared that Mr Larsen's boat did not contain any communication equipment, any electronic navigation instruments, an engine or even a toilet.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="nl"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/HDcVjZqLng">https://t.co/HDcVjZqLng</a></p>— michaelcollins (@michaelcollins) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelcollins/status/948898210805772289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">4 januari 2018</a></blockquote>
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Mr Larsen sailed out of Panama 100 days ago and was on his way to Australia when weather forced him to turn back. According to the US coast guard, the man appeared disoriented and was having trouble sailing into port.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacob Schlereth, a boarding officer and engineer at Station Maui, said: "Being disoriented while at sea in a vessel with no communication capabilities aboard can be deadly if not handled quickly."
"We commend the good Samaritan for recognizing the complications and contacting the proper authorities to initiate a rescue."
Mr Larsen's partner, Ms Natalie Uhing, commented from Darwin, Australia: "I wasn't there, and this is very ordinary in the sailing world. I don't understand what the fuss is about?
"Much ado about nothing, trust me. He asked for a tow, the guy called the coast guard. A boat without an engine or technology seems to be the cause of all the excitement."
Being lost while sailing is in fact nothing new for Mr Larsen. In a 2013 interview he declared that whilst sailing from Australia to Japan, he was hit by a typhoon which set him off course to Taiwan.
When he started his travel, Mr Larsen wrote on Ms Uhing’s blog: "I'll be turning 60 later this year. I've been working for a living for the past 40 years and I am tired of working. Humans are the only animals who work for a living. All other creatures live for a living. And I still have five years to go till my old age pension. I have decided I am going sailing for those five years. I will live for a living, like all other creatures in the world."
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