AMANZIMTOTI sailor, Raymond Ninow (25) stared death in the eye after being caught in Hurricane Irma when it hammered the British Virgin Islands last week.
Raymond and his German fiancee, Steffie Remm were forced to abandon his beloved yacht, Schatzi along with all their belongings to make it out alive.
The couple had been taking care of a beautiful house on the island, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands for over a week when Hurricane Irma descended on Tuesday, 5 September. The house had its windows blown out and the island was left completely decimated.
The following day, Raymond managed to contact his parents. Following the call, the island lost all connection with the outside world. Raymond and Steffie have since been seeking refuge in several homes, being accommodated where they could find sanctuary.
Raymond’s mother, Amanda Ninow only heard from her son again on Friday evening, 8 September when he finally managed to get hold of a satellite phone.
When they set sail in March this year: Caribbean-bound voyagers set sail
Raymond had set sail Caribbean-bound on a some 14,000km journey in March with his two friends, Pieter de Witt and Davin Clark. The trio made the hair-raising crossing in Raymond’s 9,6m yacht, and after seeing much of that part of the world, Raymond was joined by his girlfriend Steffi Remm. They got engaged in the Caribbean and the love birds set sail around the British Virgin Islands, never expecting their dreamy days to culminate in this frightening experience.
In what was one of the most forceful Atlantic storms ever experienced, the couple are fortunate to have survived unharmed.
Read about the frightening South Atlantic crossing: Local Toti sailors share details on hair-raising South Atlantic crossing
Read more about Raymond’s encounter with Hurricane Irma in this week’s South Coast Sun
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