Dyflin
Well-Known Member
A British yachtsman and his Hungarian girlfriend have told of their terrifying six-day ordeal in which they drifted in stormy seas after they claimed they had to flee the Canary Islands following a row with 'heavy-handed' Spanish officials.
Alexander Hopkins, and his partner Kinga Szabo, were dramatically rescued in mid-Atlantic by a British cruise ship in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
They had been at sea for six days, three of them drifting in a storm with a damaged tiller and sails after taxmen on the island of La Palma threatened to impound their treasured 34ft yacht, the 30-year-old Taurus of Wyre.
The officials wrongly claimed that musical instrument maker Alexander was a Spanish resident and liable for taxes in the port of Tazacorte. Fearing he would lose the yacht that had been home to him and school-teacher Kinga for four years, he set sail for the Azores.
Kinga said: 'We did not want to leave and normally we would have taken weeks to prepare for such a trip but the officials would have sealed the boat and we would have had nowhere to live.'
On the third day the wind strengthened and they began to struggle. The tiller was damaged but they calculated from their charts that they could drift back towards the Canaries.
As waves threatened to swamp the yacht they took turns on watch three-hourly by day, two-hourly at night.
They claimed that seasickness prevented them from eating and they drank nothing because going to the loo was too difficult in the stormy weather.
They put out a distress signal. Kinga said: 'After about five hours a cargo ship replied. The radio officer told us we were in an area with little shipping, the weather was getting worse and wished us good luck.'
Kinga said: 'I was very frightened but I did not want to show it. I just kept telling myself that I had promised my family I would fly home for Christmas and I was going to keep my promise.'
Just before 7am on Wednesday their signal was answered by the British cruise ship Thomson Destiny, bound for the Caribbean. Kinga said the ship’s Greek-born British captain, Emmanuel Psarrakis, saved their lives. 'He came into range of the VHF and called us back straight away.
'I cannot thank him enough. He did not have to come. We did not signal Mayday but only a call for assistance, which is voluntary to react to, and his action was really kind.'
Captain Psarrakis later told his 1,300 passengers it was his first rescue in 44 years at sea. Alexander said: 'The whole crew were so nice and we were very, very grateful after seven days, and those last three nights, to see people so helpful.'
However, the rescued couple had one last task, perhaps the toughest of all.
Alexander, who was brought up in Mallorca and whose grandfather was born in Llanelli, said: 'The captain told me he would have to scuttle Taurus because it was a danger to shipping and that a crew member would go on board and take out the bungs.
'I said: ‘No, I must do this myself.’ It was the hardest thing. We had planned to live on her for the next 15 years of our lives. By the time we got up on to the bridge she was gone.' After pausing to compose himself, he said: 'But we have our lives and that is the main thing.'
The couple will go to Kinga’s home in Hungary after leaving the ship in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Tuesday.
http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/Adrift-for-Days-after-Spanish-Forced-them-to-Sail/51861
However, a readers comment on the same story...
> Sender: Brian Smith
> Message: The Spanish did NOT force them to leave.
> They left of their own free will, and start on a risky journey in bad weather conditions and were totally unprepared. The results were predictable.
> The man was brought up on Majorca, which presumably means that both he and his parents lived in Spain for a considerable number of years. The article states that his grandfather was from Wales which presumably means that his father had not lived in the UK (otherwise they would have mentioned that fact). Alexander must have a Spanish fiscal number.
> Presumably the harbourmaster in Tazacorte checked his passport in the system and noted that he was a spanish resident. This is not a reason for impounding his boat. I can only assume that the system revealed a substantial existing tax debt, or a court imposed fine or jail senetence.
> This is the only explaination I can see for the harbourmaster to threaten to take such a drastic action. Bear in mind that Tazacorte is a very small harbour in a tiny village and they really aren't out to collect a handful of tax Euros. The paperwork involded just isn't worth it, and getting a tax official over from the office in Santa Cruz (1 hour drive) would have to be for a substantial debt.
> What they are interested in is drug smuggling.
> What they are obliged to do is collect harbour fees.
> Blaming the Spanish authorities for this is just not fair.
> If it was a misunderstanding they should have stayed and sorted it out, he speaks the language after all.
> Running away is a sure sign of guilt in most cases. The result does not get any sympathy from me and twisting the story to blame someone else irritates me enormously .. maybe the harbourmaster felt the same way?
Alexander Hopkins, and his partner Kinga Szabo, were dramatically rescued in mid-Atlantic by a British cruise ship in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
They had been at sea for six days, three of them drifting in a storm with a damaged tiller and sails after taxmen on the island of La Palma threatened to impound their treasured 34ft yacht, the 30-year-old Taurus of Wyre.
The officials wrongly claimed that musical instrument maker Alexander was a Spanish resident and liable for taxes in the port of Tazacorte. Fearing he would lose the yacht that had been home to him and school-teacher Kinga for four years, he set sail for the Azores.
Kinga said: 'We did not want to leave and normally we would have taken weeks to prepare for such a trip but the officials would have sealed the boat and we would have had nowhere to live.'
On the third day the wind strengthened and they began to struggle. The tiller was damaged but they calculated from their charts that they could drift back towards the Canaries.
As waves threatened to swamp the yacht they took turns on watch three-hourly by day, two-hourly at night.
They claimed that seasickness prevented them from eating and they drank nothing because going to the loo was too difficult in the stormy weather.
They put out a distress signal. Kinga said: 'After about five hours a cargo ship replied. The radio officer told us we were in an area with little shipping, the weather was getting worse and wished us good luck.'
Kinga said: 'I was very frightened but I did not want to show it. I just kept telling myself that I had promised my family I would fly home for Christmas and I was going to keep my promise.'
Just before 7am on Wednesday their signal was answered by the British cruise ship Thomson Destiny, bound for the Caribbean. Kinga said the ship’s Greek-born British captain, Emmanuel Psarrakis, saved their lives. 'He came into range of the VHF and called us back straight away.
'I cannot thank him enough. He did not have to come. We did not signal Mayday but only a call for assistance, which is voluntary to react to, and his action was really kind.'
Captain Psarrakis later told his 1,300 passengers it was his first rescue in 44 years at sea. Alexander said: 'The whole crew were so nice and we were very, very grateful after seven days, and those last three nights, to see people so helpful.'
However, the rescued couple had one last task, perhaps the toughest of all.
Alexander, who was brought up in Mallorca and whose grandfather was born in Llanelli, said: 'The captain told me he would have to scuttle Taurus because it was a danger to shipping and that a crew member would go on board and take out the bungs.
'I said: ‘No, I must do this myself.’ It was the hardest thing. We had planned to live on her for the next 15 years of our lives. By the time we got up on to the bridge she was gone.' After pausing to compose himself, he said: 'But we have our lives and that is the main thing.'
The couple will go to Kinga’s home in Hungary after leaving the ship in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Tuesday.
http://www.sail-world.com/Cruising/Adrift-for-Days-after-Spanish-Forced-them-to-Sail/51861
However, a readers comment on the same story...
> Sender: Brian Smith
> Message: The Spanish did NOT force them to leave.
> They left of their own free will, and start on a risky journey in bad weather conditions and were totally unprepared. The results were predictable.
> The man was brought up on Majorca, which presumably means that both he and his parents lived in Spain for a considerable number of years. The article states that his grandfather was from Wales which presumably means that his father had not lived in the UK (otherwise they would have mentioned that fact). Alexander must have a Spanish fiscal number.
> Presumably the harbourmaster in Tazacorte checked his passport in the system and noted that he was a spanish resident. This is not a reason for impounding his boat. I can only assume that the system revealed a substantial existing tax debt, or a court imposed fine or jail senetence.
> This is the only explaination I can see for the harbourmaster to threaten to take such a drastic action. Bear in mind that Tazacorte is a very small harbour in a tiny village and they really aren't out to collect a handful of tax Euros. The paperwork involded just isn't worth it, and getting a tax official over from the office in Santa Cruz (1 hour drive) would have to be for a substantial debt.
> What they are interested in is drug smuggling.
> What they are obliged to do is collect harbour fees.
> Blaming the Spanish authorities for this is just not fair.
> If it was a misunderstanding they should have stayed and sorted it out, he speaks the language after all.
> Running away is a sure sign of guilt in most cases. The result does not get any sympathy from me and twisting the story to blame someone else irritates me enormously .. maybe the harbourmaster felt the same way?
urple"> The officials wrongly claimed that musical instrument maker Alexander was a Spanish resident and liable for taxes in the port of Tazacorte. Fearing he would lose the yacht that had been home to him and school-teacher Kinga for four years, he set sail for the Azores </span> "
