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A kayaker who spent two days clinging to a buoy in the English Channel after his boat capsized survived by eating seaweed and mussels.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf says the man, believed to be 28, was trying to row to France from Dover when he came into difficulty.
It was reported that he survived by clinging to the buoy and eating raw seafood until he was picked up by Dutch crews from cutter De Madelaine from Urk in the Netherlands.
He was discovered yesterday morning and has since been taken to hospital, suffering from severe hypothermia.
The newspaper spoke to Teunis de Boer, the boat’s skipper, who explained he had been sailing between England and France when he spotted “something crazy moving” near a buoy in the water.
That’s when he saw the “exhausted and distressed” man wearing only a pair of swimming trunks “waving at us like a madman”.
He added: “It’s a miracle he survived.
“He looked a bit confused, so we don’t know exactly how long [he was in the water].
“You can bet that you can’t sleep on such a buoy, especially with the rough weather of the past few days.”
“He clearly had little energy left. With his very last bit of strength, he managed to extend his arm, after which we were able to bring him in.”
Crews offered the man a Snickers chocolate bar before he explained how he came into trouble.
A statement from the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said the kayaker had taken “refuge on the “Colbart Nord” buoy, located in the middle of the traffic (DST) of Pas de Calais”.
They also issued a warning to anyone who plans to cross the Channel about the risks involved, whatever the planned crossing.
The statement said: “This maritime sector is one of the busiest areas in the world, with more than 400 merchant ships passing through it per day and the weather conditions are often difficult (120 days of wind greater than or equal to force 7 on an annual average, for example), it is therefore a particularly dangerous sector, especially as the winter period approaches.”
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: “Dover RNLI lifeboat was sent to assist following a report from French authorities of a man found on a buoy in the English Channel shortly before 10am yesterday.
“The Dover crew conducted a search in UK territorial waters to confirm there were no other casualties.”
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