Tyneside mum tells of her terror on seas

Mar 8 2009 by Lisa Hutchinson, Sunday Sun

FOR forty days she was battered by storms, survived on rations and left drifting across the dangerous waters of the Atlantic Ocean in a broken boat.

With the rudder stuck and veering off course, little electricity and low on food and fresh water, she could only dream of getting home to Tyneside.

And her wish came true this weekend when she was reunited with her son and daughter as dozens of hugs were exchanged in an emotional homecoming.

“I love you mum,” were the words from her daughter, Joanne, that kept Andrea Davison filled with hope as she was stranded in the Atlantic in their broken-down yacht, Sara, for almost six weeks.

And eventually, when she and partner Stuart Armstrong realised they could not make dry land before provisions ran out, the pair called the Coastguard to come to their rescue.

And it was only when they drifted towards Bermuda that they were eventually picked up from their stricken vessel by an Italian oil tanker after being stuck out at sea.

Now Andrea has set foot on home soil where she wrapped her arms around her 23-year-old daughter and son Michael, 25, of Burradon, North Tyneside, and planted a huge kiss on each of their cheeks.

“When we were out at sea with a broken rudder and trying to get to land I was kept going by the phone calls I had with my daughter,” said Andrea, 48, from Hadrian Park, Wallsend, North Tyneside.

“When you are out there for that long you start to miss your family and I missed Michael and Joanne.

“We had to ration phone calls because we didn’t have the power and every time we spoke we told each other we loved one another.

“As time passed and I was still saying ‘no I’m not on land but still bobbing about at sea’, my emotions started to get to me. I had to put on a brave face and laugh about the situation but I was missing her and Michael and was thinking about getting home.

“A few times I broke down in tears. I kept thinking about having a bath, a haircut and a massage. Joanne trained in hair and beauty and that’s my treat when I come home to see her.”