Philippe Comte, a Belgian national, used his McMurdo Precision Category II EPIRB to get himself rescued, when all other options failed. After his boat was wrecked, he was lucky to get ashore, but once landed, there were no signs of life on the deserted island.

Philippe tells his own story: “After waiting for the right pre-frontal winds in Georgetown I decided to head out on November 10th to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos aboard my 1974 Dufour 34 sloop. The winds were light and I was able to sail around Long Island and close to the Crooked Island passage. As a cold front caught up with me I anchored in the lee of West Plana Cay to wait for the strong NE winds to ease out. The waves had built up considerably and the swell was rounding that little island badly, making this anchorage very dangerous. I was in the back of a reef barrier and as close to the beach as I could be but my 6ft draft would not allow me to shelter any more. The waves were rolling to the shore making this place a perfect surfer spot.

On the evening of November 14th after changing my head furling sail to a heavier one I decided to lift anchor and head to Providenciales in 30 to 35 knot winds with 12 to 15ft seas. As the anchor windlass got stuck, with the anchor off the ground, a thunder squall came along. I was being pushed toward the reed dangerously so I raced back to use the engine. I tumbled into the cockpit then as I recovered my balance I felt the first impact. The next set off waves lifted me onto the reef, the boat now lay flat on the reef with the headsail unfurled and the anchor down 10ft from its stored position. I was holding on the best I could so as to not fall off the boat. Finally after a time that seemed so long the boat was finally blown out of the reef and was being pushed away from the sheltered anchorage. The engine had stalled and wouldn’t re-start. I went down below where I noticed water coming in fast. In a panic moment I lifted every cushion and still couldn’t figure out where the water was coming from.

By then it was pitch dark outside and I could only see the island shape on the horizon getting further and further away. The water level got to the batteries and the lights went out. I then decided to prepare for abandoning the vessel. I launched the dinghy, took the emergency bag and a jug of water. Now in unprotected water the waves were starting to break over the cockpit. I jumped into the dinghy still holding onto the boat by a 20ft line. The decision was taken fairly easily to let go when it became obvious that Scirocco was going down and that my 2hp motor would have a hard time bringing me back to shore.

After a long fight with my 7ft dinghy against 12ft breaking seas I made it back to the island where I crash-landed on the roof with a big wave. In my wet-suit under my full weather jacket I pulled up the dinghy, gathered my stuff from along the shore and settled under a palm tree. The next day soon arrived. I walked around the island without seeing anyone to ask for help. I tried to radio a ship that I spotted on the horizon. But my little handheld was of no use.

Around noon time I decided to activate my McMurdo Precision Category II EPIRB. About two hours later I could hear the comforting sound of the USCG helicopter arriving. They circled a few times where I had activated some flares and then landed, to lift me out of my misery.