11 July 2006 - KAYAK capsize survivor Daniel Michel thought he was hallucinating when the lifeboat rescued him off Brecqhou. He had drifted for almost two hours and was close to drowning.

‘I thought I was dreaming from too much saltwater in my mind.’

‘My mind was very clear until I was rescued and then, when I realised I was safe on the lifeboat, I collapsed,’ he said, speaking from the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.

The next thing he remembered was waking up, wrapped in a blanket and being treated for hypothermia.

‘I realise now that it was very, very difficult and uncertain for the saving team - I have been very lucky in this adventure,’ said the 57-year-old Cable & Wireless technical director, who was picked up by the St Peter Port lifeboat after a two-and-a-half hour air and sea search and rescue operation.

Mr Michel became separated from the other five in his kayaking group.

‘We had planned to make a crossing from Bordeaux to Sark in three hours maximum. Then, from Herm on the way to Sark, past a cardinal buoy, suddenly the wind came up to about force seven.

‘I had great difficulty to manoeuvre and was taken by the current in a very bumpy zone, with strong currents.’

At that point he was with two others. They were having trouble keeping together because of strong winds.

‘I capsized once and managed to get into the canoe once, but meanwhile the kayak got full of water and I could not get it out. So it capsized for a second time.’

He lost his hold on the kayak and became separated from the group and drifted. One of his colleagues paddled to Brecqhou to raise the alarm.

Another paddled to Sark.

Mr Michel - at this point still drifting - put his paddle behind his neck to keep his head upright. He had taken in a lot of seawater but was determined to stay alive.

Channel Islands Air Search swept the area and the Bon Marin and fishing boat Out of the Blue Two joined the search. The Flying Christine took the remaining kayakers back to Guernsey.

The rest of the group left Guernsey yesterday morning to pick up their canoes and continue their holiday to Jersey.

They planned to paddle along the coast off Carteret and on to Goury.

Mr Michel said he expected to be fit in a day’s time.

He lives in southern Brittany and is married to 53-year-old Doina. They have two children - a 33-year-old daughter and 23-year-old son.

Mr Michel said: ‘I am very happy that everybody thought about me - the saving team, the fishermen off Brecqhou, and their colleagues, and the people at the hospital, who have looked after me with a lot of care.’

Article courtesy of www.thisisguernsey.com