Tourist survives two days at sea on boiled sweets after dinghy swept away from holiday island

Kushila Stein also stayed alive by wrapping herself in plastic bags to keep warm

Kushila Stein, 47, from New Zealand, survived two days at sea by eating boiled sweets after her dinghy was swept away from the Greek island of Folegandros on 1 November, 2019. (Hellenic Coast Guard)

A tourist survived two days at sea by eating boiled sweets after her dinghy swept away from a holiday island.

Kushila Stein, 47, drifted 26 miles from the Greek island of Folegandros in the Aegean Sea after the boat’s oar fell overboard.

The sailor survived despite having no drinking water by rationing the few boiled lollies she had in her bag while wrapping herself in plastic bags to stay warm, her mother Wendy Stein told Stuff.co.nz.

The experienced offshore sailor, from Warkworth, New Zealand, also wrote down her mother’s contact details and attached them to the vessel in case she was found dead.

Ms Stein had reportedly been helping a British man named Mike transport his yacht from southern Turkey to Athens when she decided to take the dinghy for a trip to Folegandros on Friday, according to her mother.

She messaged him that afternoon to say she was about to head back to the boat.

When she had not returned two hours later, the skipper thought she had decided to spend more time ashore and went to bed.

But when there was still no sign of Ms Stein and the dinghy by 5am, he began to search for her and alerted the police.

By this point Ms Stein had stuck out at sea for about 12 hours.

She was eventually found between Folegandros and Crete in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Hellenic Coast Guard had sent out seven patrol vessels and a search and rescue aircraft, while three private vessels and a Greek navy helicopter helped in the search operation.

Ms Stein’s mother told Stuff that her daughter pointed a mirror towards the sun every time a plane flew overhead in an attempt to catch someone’s attention.

She added: “She told me: ‘I did everything I could to survive’.

“She has been trained in sea survival so is quite competent. I think that might have saved her life.”