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Elsi in Albany

After I was taken off Elsi in December 2006 she drifted around for over seven weeks in the Great Australian Bight south of Australia before being spotted by an Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) spotter plane.  They were on their way out to fly over an American sailor James Burwick who was trying to sail from South Africa to New Zealand in his Open 40 yacht. He suffered a rigging failure and was coming in to Albany to make repairs. On the way out they spotted a small green yacht which appeared to be derelict and took a photo of it which ended up getting sent back to Shetland Coastguard and on to us.

We called up a local fisherman, Robin Greene who was the owner / skipper of Kiama,  who we had spoken to in Albany. He and his crew set off, found Elsi and towed her back in to harbour. A video of the rescue can be seen here.

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