A senior sailing instructor and his wife have been rescued by fishermen off the Yemen coast as they attempted to sail from East Africa to the UAE.
Dacey Calisura and her husband Jethro Friggens were sailing their 12-metre Catalina vessel built in 1995, named Freya, from Kenya to Dubai, where the couple both live.
They were hoping to sail the 2,900 nautical miles, the equivalent of 5,370km, in around 25 days, traversing the Indian Ocean and along the Somali Coast, before a brief stop in Socotra, an island off the coast of Yemen.
We thought there would be a problem with pirates but it turned out the problem was the weather
Dacey Calisura,
rescued sailor
The couple were sailing with two other friends, Euan Jarvis, a former chief dinghy instructor and Caroline Kneitz, who also sails at a club in Dubai.
The stretch of water from where the boat was rescued is one of the world’s piracy hotspots, with scores of incidents reported in recent years in the Gulf of Aden, the Guardafui Channel and Somali Seain waters.
After sailing through 12 days of rough weather that included 30-knot wind speeds and five-mete-high waves, the boat got into difficulty when it lost steerage.
When the ship's autopilot failed, it became adrift in rough seas.
“We were sailing from Kenya to Dubai and we knew the weather was going to be rough, but nothing we couldn’t handle,” said Ms Calisura, who was undertaking her first open sea voyage, in an interview with Dubai Eye.
“The first 10 days were great, and we managed to hand steer the boat without autopilot despite the weather and rough seas.
“As soon as we saw Socotra we started to have issues with steering so we were open to the elements.
“We were stranded and at the mercy of currents taking us away from land and drifted for a day without knowing what to do.”
Mayday signal
The crew kept in touch with the UK coastguard via a satellite phone after issuing a mayday signal.
With only large shipping tankers and navy patrol vessels in the area, there were few opportunities for rescue.
The UK coastguard sent a signal to a shipping tanker nearby to head in their direction to protect them from the giant waves that risked capsizing their boat.
Thanks to their planning, daily updates sent to friends in Dubai made them aware the boat was in difficulty, who then notified contacts in Socotra who launched a rescue led by fishermen.
A wooden dhow searched the area for 9 hours before spotting the stricken vessel and attaching tow ropes.
The rescue operation took around 22 hours as the vessel was towed around 92km, making it safely into land on July 28.
The crew are now making boat repairs and hope to sail the boat back to the UAE, via Salalah in Oman, before the end of the year.
They will fly back to the UAE on Sunday to resume their day jobs.
“We couldn’t believe a fishing dhow was out so far,” said Ms Calisura.
“The fisherman were amazing, and determined to find us. They came on-board and attached towing lines to pull us to shore.
“We were thrown like a toy on the sea, it was incredibly rough. Until we had our feet on land, we didn’t know if we would be OK.
“The whole time we were praying. We thought there would be a problem with pirates but it turned out the problem was the weather.
“It was a unique experience to be rescued by civilians.
“It will be sad to leave the boat behind but we have to get on with our lives.
“Without the fishermen, we don’t know what would have happened.”
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
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Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
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F1 The Movie
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Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Result
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Brraq, Ryan Curatolo (jockey), Jean-Claude Pecout (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m; Winner: Bright Melody, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Naval Crown, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m; Winner: Volcanic Sky, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Zainhom, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global institutions: BlackRock and KKR
US-based BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with $5.98 trillion of assets under management as of the end of last year. The New York firm run by Larry Fink provides investment management services to institutional clients and retail investors including governments, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, banks and charitable foundations around the world, through a variety of investment vehicles.
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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