HANOI, Vietnam, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Stormy weather has kept two seamen stranded on a tiny Vietnamese island, after being rescued from a raft where they spent 11 days at sea without food or water.
Australian sailor Mark Smith, 49, and his New Zealand companion, Steve Freeman, 30, were rescued Saturday by Vietnamese fisherman, having spent 11 days aboard a life raft after their yacht sank, The Australian reported.
They were taken to a medical clinic on Ly Son Island, off the coast of Vietnam. Australian consular officials were in touch with the men, but ongoing storms prevented either a boat or a helicopter from reaching them.
The two men were in stable condition, the report said.
Smith and Freeman had been hired to go to Hong Kong, pick up a 65-foot yacht and deliver it to its new owner in Sydney. They left Hong Kong on Dec. 5, but were hit by huge waves the next day that overturned and sank the yacht.
Though they initially had a few supplies aboard their tiny life raft, high waves repeatedly overturned the raft and swept everything away. The two survived only by drinking rainwater.
