A sailboat skipper was found alive after his boat was blown off by strong winds on Saturday night.

The 71 year-old Australian was found alive by villagers of Kampung Pulau Melayu here at around 7am yesterday morning.

The skipper, identified as David Lenton was reported to have set sail off Miri waters on Saturday evening before strong winds blew off his sailboat.

The boat was discovered on the shore of Kampung Pulau Melayu’s beach yesterday morning about 1 nautical mile from where it was hit by the strong winds.

Lenton was met at the Miri Central police station yesterday, accompanied by his local friend, Chai Jee Chong, when they went to retrieve a police report which was lodged earlier on his disappearance after his sailboat was hit by the strong winds, disclosed that he was happy to be alive and well despite the ordeal.

“On that night (Saturday) I was alone in the sailboat, anchoring not far from the Marina Bay … when the first wave of strong  winds came and hit my sailboat…but things turned horrible when the second wave of the strong winds came … causing the sailboat to be drifted away …” said Lenton.

The incident is believed to have occurred around 10pm on Saturday.

Lenton was fortunate that the drifting sailboat had stranded nearby Kampung Pulau Melayu’s beach.

“I recognised the ‘kampung’ (referring to Kampung Pulau Melayu) as I saw the Miri Golf Club course…” he said.

“Around 3am yesterday, when I felt that the sailboat had stopped drifting away, I went out to check, I was surprised and relieved that it has stranded on shore,” he added.

Lenton immediately left the boat and walked to the village for assistance.

Several villagers later found him nearby the area and alerted the authorities.

It is learnt that Lenton was supposed to set sail en-route to Johor Bahru before the incident delayed his schedule.

Meanwhile, Chong said he last contacted Lenton at 5.30pm on Saturday.

“We became worried as he did not respond to our call, plus we did not see his sailboat nearby the Marina Bay area,” said Chai.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by Margaret Ringgit

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