Aussies rescued from catamaran in South Pacific reveal sinking fear in wild weather
Voyagers rescued from their broken-down catamaran in the South Pacific feared they might have to abandon ship before being saved by a 'floating city.'
Australian bloggers Dusty and Helena, their three dogs, and another couple with them were plucked from their disabled boat about 5am on Thursday after their engine failed and their mast broke in wild weather.
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'We were 170 nautical miles off the shore of New Caledonia in the middle of nowhere,' Dusty told Sunrise.
'When the mast broke it was under the boat at a 45 degree angle, banging on the bottom of it.
'We were very worried (the mast spreaders) were going to puncture the side of the boat and then we were going to be trying to jump into the life raft in 4-5m swell.
'Then this floating city came and saved us.'
That floating city was the Carnival Splendor, which was on an eight-day round trip to Vanuatu and New Caledonia after leaving Sydney.
The couple said they had barely slept for two days as they tried to outrun a storm.
But when their engine and mast were taken out of action, a distress call was made and they had a nerve-wracking wait to be rescued.
'We were all wearing wetsuits, ready to deploy the life raft and run away from the boat,' Helena said.
The couple said getting onto the cruise ship was a challenge in timing, given the huge swell.
'Our boat was docked up next to the cruise ship and the place we were supposed to enter was like two or three metres above us,' Dusty said.
'We thought, 'ok this isn't going to work', then we noticed when the swell came through it would lift our boat to that height so you had to time it with the swell and then jump into this hole.
'All the crew were jumping and grabbing you. But if you fell in between our boat and the cruise ship it would be an instant death.'
The two couples had been heading to Fiji after leaving the Gold Coast earlier this month.
Dusty and Helena live full-time on the catamaran, chasing their dream of sailing around the world after travelling Australia in a motorhome.
'With no sailing experience, we're learning as we go — figuring out boat life, fixing things, and navigating the challenges of off-grid living,' they say on their YouTube channel Sailing Barking Cat.
The Carnival Splendor continued its voyage and will visit Noumea in New Caledonia on Saturday before returning to Sydney on Tuesday.
Carnival Cruise Line said: 'It's always our priority to respond to emergencies like this and we're glad we were in the right place at the right time to help.'
Dusty left the EPIRB on the catamaran and is hopeful he can retrieve the vessel and have it towed to Noumea.
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