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Rick Wills / 2007-03-19 13:35:32

The 'Dons' Return Safe and Well After Sahara Rescue

"Things were getting a bit dodgy to say the least. I was feeling worse and worse, our water supply was getting low and there seemed then to be no prospect of us being rescued." The words of Dick Watts speaking to the 'Leader' after his journey across the Sahara with friend Bill Arscott resulted in a search and rescue for the pair.

'The Costa Blanca Dons' from Quesada, left Spain on 3rd February to take part in the Plymouth - Banjul Challenge, a trek for oldish cars. Their destination was Banjul in the Gambia, a journey of around 2500 miles across some pretty tricky terrain. As well as the thrill of taking part, the expedition raised money for the children of Gambia and for the Dons' chosen charity; Naomi House, a children's hospice in Plymouth.

On Thursday 15th February, while travelling across the Western Sahara in Mauritania, their vehicle got stuck in sand and they lost contact with the convoy of 6 other vehicles which did not realise they had dropped off the pace until later in the day. They ended up being stranded for 4 days, with water supplies running out and Dick unwell with stomach problems, consequently suffering from dehydration. Nobody knew their location and their subsequent rescue was more a question of luck than anything else.

After reporting on their plight in edition 148, their disappearance was also picked up by the UK press. Dick is now back at home in Quesada, where the 'Leader' visited him and wife Maxine and here he picks up the tale.

"It sounds daft now, but we had slowed down to take pictures of a camel and lost sight of the convoy as they went on ahead. As we hurried to catch up with them, our jeep got bogged down between some sand dunes and it was absolutely impossible to dig it out. I was already beginning to feel poorly due to eating some dodgy meat the day before and that got progressively worse during the time we were lost.

We were unable to contact anyone on our mobile due to our location, so we just had to sit it out and hope that somebody found us. By the next day we had not seen or heard any sign of a search party and began to become more concerned. We discovered that we could get a signal for our mobile for about 20 minutes during the evenings and I managed to get through to my son that night. He had been in contact with another member of our convoy, who had told him that an Army rescue team was being sent out to find us. We later found out that this had never in fact happened.

That night we saw some lights nearby and assumed that they were from the search party, but they disappeared after a while. By the next night, we really did feel that this could be the end for us, as again there was no sign of a rescue party. I spoke to my son again and told him that things were getting a bit dodgy to say the least. I was feeling worse and worse, our water supply was getting low and there seemed then to be no prospect of us being rescued.

Our eventual rescue was all down to the efforts of the other members of our convoy, who in desperation had hired a pilot from a local flying club to go up and make a search. At about midday on Sunday, this plane came close to our location and I set a tyre on fire to signal where we were. They spotted us and dropped a note attached to a bottle, which they parachuted down by tying it to a fleece, to say they had our location and help would be on it's way. I have never felt so relieved in my life.

A few hours later, a helicopter arrived to pick us up and take us to hospital. Again, the convoy members had arranged all this by getting in touch with an oil company in the region which had sent the chopper out to rescue us. The pilot told us that even then we were lucky as they were right at the limit of their fuel range and would have turned back within minutes if they had not spotted us.

As we took off, we saw a group of vehicles nearby, heading towards our camp. The pilot told us that these were bandits and it was no doubt their lights we had seen a couple of days before. They would have been waiting for us to become really weak before coming to rob and probably kill us.

We were taken to hospital in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, where after being checked over, we went to a hotel which the others had booked for us. We wanted to go on to Banjul by air to at least meet up with the others and reach our final destination. This proved to be impossible to arrange and finally we flew to Paris and on to London.

While disappointed not to complete the journey, obviously by the end of it all we were glad just to be alive. We are so grateful to the other members of our convoy who never gave up on us and instigated our rescue. Also our deepest thanks go to the plane pilot who only accepted money for his fuel and to the oil company who did not charge us anything at all."

On their return to the U.K, they were the subject of extensive press coverage and appeared on Meridian television to recount their adventures. Dick made a video of the trip which we partially viewed and which brought home the perilous situation in which they found themselves, as well as their darkest thoughts at the time.

Maxine and Bill's wife Pat were obviously beside themselves with worry while all this was going on and have given a firm "No" to talk of the guys undertaking any similar trips in the near future.

As they were unable to sell their vehicle in Banjul, the proceeds of which would have gone to the children of The Gambia, their planned fundraising there was limited, but they still have sponsorship from people in the U.K. which will go to Naomi House.

Anyone wishing to add any contribution can contact Dick on 966 717 151.