Four women and one man fishing during a summerhouse trip in Ísafjardardjúp in the West Fjords on Saturday fell overboard after their boat was overturned by a sharp gust of wind, but managed to swim to land wearing life jackets.
The women managed to swim ashore in 20 minutes, but their fishing companion, who had at first decided to stay in the water and hold on to the overturned boat in the hope that it would drift to land, stayed in the water for about an hour before he finally swam ashore, Morgunbladid reports.
One of the women, Audur Yngvadóttir, said the weather had been fine at the beginning of the fishing trip, but had worsened quite suddenly. “Despite the weather being good we put our life jackets on and took our time adjusting all the straps. I think that saved our lives.”
After making it to dry land the women made contact with their husbands in the summerhouse, which was 2 kilometers away.
Their husbands called emergency services and brought emergency equipment to the shore, warm water and blankets, to help the man, who had suffered hypothermia.
