Now in Australia

Swiss sailor loses finger in storm

A Swiss sailor lost his little finger in a storm in South Africa and was lucky enough to end up on the west coast of Australia. As the Australian broadcaster ABC reported, the man's finger got caught in a spinnaker rope. He then drifted off.

"I tried to save the spinnaker, but lost it and part of my finger with it," said Ralph Bender. He had an anaesthetic with him and poured it on the wound. "I cut the rest off with scissors," he told the Australian broadcaster ABC. After around four days, the bleeding stopped.

I asked myself: What am I doing here? I could be at home, have a cat on my lap and drink a coffee.

Segler Ralph Bender

In the meantime, however, the boat had drifted away because Bender had been unable to use his hand. Finally, the mast almost fell down, the autopilot failed and the battery was flat. "I asked myself: What am I doing here? I could be at home, have a cat on my lap and drink a coffee."

Stranded in Bunbury
Calls for help would have been useless at sea. According to ABC, Bender finally came ashore in Bunbury, around 200 kilometers south of Perth (Australia), on 24 January. He visited the local sailing club there and is now waiting for his boat to be repaired.

The Swiss man, who had set sail near Barcelona and originally wanted to go to Easter Island in the Pacific, has since met a surgeon. "He told me I had done a good job," he told the radio and television station.