Koh Phi Phi Missing Friend

[Jose]

Please, if anyone knows the whereabouts of my friend Bruno (last seen in the pic below at Koh Phi Phi), please post here or email me at josesilva22 at yahoo.com.

Bruno is sailing solo on his cat from South Africa to Australia, and is wheelchair-bound. Any information of any last sighting or whereabouts , no matter how irrelevant it may seem, would be greatly appreciated.

Anything... please help!

jose

[davethailand]

I'm not gonna bullsiht you as I'm not in or around Phi Phi at the moment so i can't give you any info but how old is that pic?

I was yachting around the andaman sea in oct and remember seeing a boat (cat) with a brazillian flag at Phi Phi.

Good luck, I'm sure he's ok.

[Jose]

Thank you Dave - the pic is approx two-three weeks old. As far as I know Bruno hasn't left the Andaman Sea since then.

I'm hoping that Bruno was safely way out to sea on Sunday. Any recent sighting would be a relief...

jose

[Jose]

To anyone that knows Bruno - from his mum:

---8<----------------------------------

He is ok. Bit hurt, but ok. Had bad time. He was alone on boat on shore line. A miracle he survived this. Water hit, boat on its side. He clung on.

Managed to cut anchors. Has one spare one on board. Now anchored 3 miles west of Phuket in open ocean. He fished someone out of the sea. Now there are 2 other boats nearby. Has water and food. Conserving air time so only sms occasionally.

We have spoken to him this morning early. But very difficult to get through. They are just waiting to see what to do. No point in going to land yet where chaos exists. Sumatra still having tremors and aftershocks, so still possible further tsunamis.

---8<----------------------------------

I've had the unpleasant experience of tipping over a small catamaran, and being able-bodied it took me all of 20min to get it upright. I don't know how Bruno could have uprighted his larger cat under the horrible conditions, but this is one small happy miracle out of a cauldron of sadness.

jose

[britmaveric]

Jose- good news- happy to hear your mate is ok.

[Jose]

Thanks BritMaveric.

There will be many stories like this one, coming out for years to come...

jose '-)

MSNBC transcript of "Tsunami: the world responds"

Video clip aired on 7/Jan/2005

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Hoda Kotb, NBC correspondent:

And even if you have heard or seen 100 unbelievable stories, you come

across a dozen more every day, like what happened to Bruno Hansen, a

33-year-old yachtsman from South Africa who was moored in shallow water

off Phuket.

Bruno Hansen, tsunami survivor:

Beautiful morning. It was full moon, nearly full moon.

Kotb:

But something strange started to happen that sparkling morning.

Bruno's 50-foot catamaran suddenly dropped 10 feet and started spinning

out of control. He didn't understand what was happening until he turned

his head and there it was, a monster wave.

Hansen:

And it was horrific. I just sat there. I didn't know what to do.

Kotb:

It is hard to imagine being in a more helpless situation, but he was.

Bruno Hansen, who was alone on his boat, is paralyzed from the waist

down, this after a car accident six years ago left him in a wheelchair.

Hansen:

I was in the chair now. I jump on to my seat, where I sit, where I

control everything. And that's when I noticed the (inaudible) and then I

lost my grip off the wheelchair. At first, I forgot. I think I tried to

jump and run. I hit the floor and just crawled.

Kotb:

Now, all he could do was watch in awe as the wave swallowed up the

coastline and nearly everything in its path.

Hansen:

Bodies (inaudible) and cars getting flipped and just people screaming

and then bodies just getting washed everywhere.

Kotb:

Not only did this disabled sailor ride out the tremendous wave, he

reached out to save someone else.

Hansen:

He was floating on this boat, on this jet ski and not knowing what to

do. And so I drove past him. I whistled. I went up to him and tied a

rope on his jet ski. And he was like going no, no, no. I'm going -- so

he stayed on the boat with me for like eight hours.

---8<---------------------------------