Belgian sailor rescued from sinking yacht after phone call to girlfriend

A sailor who ran into trouble in the middle of the ocean was saved after sending a desperate SOS to his girlfriend more than 1,600km away, reports the Daily Mail. Guy Meuser sprung a leak in the mid-Atlantic when he was almost 500km from the nearest land, and he called girlfriend Agnes Goeman back home in Belgium. As his phone battery life was short, he made contact with Agnes, who arranged from her flat in Ghent for the 50-year-old to be rescued.  Ms Goeman called a maritime rescue service in Ostend, and rescuers there made contact with a British container vessel, Anvil Point, which was near Mr Meuser's yacht Jalini 480km north of Ascenscion Island. After 24 hours trying to bail himself out, the experienced sailor gave up and transferred to a rubber dinghy and paddled over to the ship which had come to the rescue. 'Guy was at the end of the earth, a good 2,800km from Brazil and 1,450km from the African coast,' Ms Goeman said. 'It was touch and go if he could be saved in the stormy conditions. 'The rescue service could not contact anybody on the African side and the Brazilians were not so reliable. But we had Guy's position and after hours of anguish we found the British boat.' Anvil Point took Mr Meuser to Ascension Island, a British overseas territory, where he caught a plane to London. The Belgian explorer was on a voyage from Uruguay back to Europe. 'Since he retired from work he spends all his time sailing the seas,' his sister Anne said. 'It's his great passion.' Mr Meuser has previously posted on sailing websites looking for crewmates to join him on his adventures, advertising for companions on trips to Guadeloupe, Brazil and the Canary Islands, among other destinations.