A couple who spent a fortnight adrift on their yacht in the Atlantic were recovering on Valentia Island, Co Kerry, yesterday after their rescue by the Air Corps and Valentia lifeboat.
They were low on drinking water and had lost engine power when they were detected by an Air Corps Casa maritime patrol some 70 miles west of Brandon on Saturday, and details were relayed to the Valentia Coast Guard.
A large Irish breakfast yesterday morning was the first meal enjoyed by the couple in quite some time.
Steve Davis (49) and his wife Maria Locadia Lopez Davis (42) stepped on shore in the early hours of yesterday at Valentia Island having been towed over 60 miles by the Valentia lifeboat, skippered by Seán Murphy.
Used to dry crackers and sardines of late, they were unable for a meal of chicken and chips after landing, but after a restful night by the pier in Valentia Island, they had their Irish breakfast at the Pier Hotel in Knightstown yesterday.
Their powerless yacht, with its main sail gone, had no engine and had been largely at the mercy of the winds since hitting an unseasonal storm north of the Azores over two weeks ago. They could use the minor sails, but only in heavy weather.
They had no method of generating power other than "a couple of solar panels" and their water desalination unit was not working because there was nothing to power it.
They had expected to be carried to Scotland or even Iceland, Mr Davis said yesterday at Knightstown Harbour in Valentia Island.
"We had no intention of coming here. Sixty miles off we were not getting any closer to Valentia,", he said.
They were out of tea, coffee, sugar, eggs, flour and meat and had around eight gallons of water left. They could manage to cook pasta and rice.
They had intermittent contact with an amateur radio station in Canada and were sending out signals by a hand-held radio.
The Valentia lifeboat was launched at 11.10am on Saturday and took three hours to reach the vessel.
With Seán Murphy as coxswain were mechanic Leo Houlihan, and volunteers Denis Daly, Conn Shea and Liam Grandfield.
Mr Murphy said the Davises "seemed to be very tired and delighted to see us. We didn't board the boat, so all our chat with them was over the radio."
The couple had left from St Thomas in the Virgin Islands on April 11th on what was, for Londoner Mr Davis, one of several Atlantic crossings he has made aboard yachts in both directions over a 20-year period.
They had purchased their 38-ft, 1967 British-built steel boat, the Imara Guen, in the Americas.
Yesterday Mr Davis paid tribute to the vessel which he hopes they can repair and eventually live on in the Thames.
They now expect to spend the next week in Knightstown until their yacht is repaired.
"We are going to be here until we can find an Irish diesel mechanic genius to fix the engine for the small amount of money we have left," Mr Davis said. He added that this was an appeal.
He says the boat hit at least eight major storms between the Caribbean and Spain and they were constantly weaving and back-tracking to try and avoid them.
The traditional "westerlies" simply did not kick in this time, Mr Davis said.
"Something has gone horribly wrong. The weather pattern has changed.
"We know of at least four boats that have sunk and for a fact we know of four people who have drowned."
There simply were no trade winds, he said, and the wind "kept changing".
"All we had were easterlies. There simply were no westerlies. The prominent high pressure over the Azores has gone and been replaced by hurricane weather.
"It's global warming gone mad," Mr Davis said.
They were making for Falmouth but the winds took them past the Channel.
"I was stressed and depressed, but I wasn't scared," said Mr Davis who works as a motorcycle dispatch rider.
He did not believe they were in immediate danger as they still had a few days supplies left and the boat was essentially sound.
However his wife, originally from Venezuela, feared for their lives.
She believed she was going to drown, when their vessel somersaulted in a Force 12 and turned around 360 degrees north of the Azores.
At one stage she thought her husband had been thrown overboard. "I am very, very tired - exhausted," she said yesterday.
Although she was scared, "we had to manage, we had to help each other," she said.
She rang her four grown-up children yesterday, and "they were so pleased to hear my voice. We are so lucky to be alive," she said.