British hero sailor saves 24 starving islanders during voyage to Australia... and the name's Mr Bond
By
Daily Mail Reporter
Created 2:40 PM on 10th May 2010
A British sailor came to the
rescue of a group of 'desperate and starving' islanders after chancing upon them on his way to
Australia, the coastguard said today.
Alex Bond, from Penryn, Cornwall, docked the yacht Mary Powell at Kanton Island - an atoll between
Hawaii and
Fiji - where he was met by extraordinary scenes.
Mr Bond, 46, who was delivering the 10-metre yacht from
Hawaii, found the island's 14 adults and 10
children had been given no supplies for several months. The ship due to bring them was stuck nearby.
Sailor Alex Bond, pictured here with his partner Sonia Balfou, saved a group of islanders from starving to death after discovering them on his way to Australia
He contacted Falmouth Coastguard for help, who in turn called their American counterparts and the Honolulu authorities to arrange a drop-off.
In the meantime he gave the islanders - who had been surviving on coconuts and
fish - anything he could spare.
More...
A Falmouth coastguard spokesman said today: 'When the British sailor arrived, he was was met by the desperate and starving islanders who had not been delivered any supplies for months.
Remote: He found them on Kanton Island, an atoll between Hawaii and
Fiji
'The supply ship which should have brought them provisions was stuck at a nearby island. They had been living off just coconuts and any
fish that they could catch for months.'
The coastguard said there was no way of knowing who would have found the starving population, had not Mr Bond stopped off on there.
Richard Williams, Falmouth's Watch Assistant said: 'The British sailor has given the islanders all the supplies that he can spare from his 33 foot yacht.
'We are now working with the Americans to drop supplies or land on the island. As the island was used by the Americans and the British during the war it does have a run way.
It is the largest, northernmost and sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati, located in the South
Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Hawaii
'We don't normally get requests like these from British sailors, but hopefully we will be able to help the islanders to get the supplies that they need.
'So far, we have been given a
shopping list of provisions such as
cooking fat, rice, sugar and flour which we have passed on to the Americans.'
As well as being a
delivery skipper, Mr Bond is reported to have worked for the disaster relief charity, ShelterBox, based in Cornwall.
Life saver: Mr Bond, right, gave the desperate islanders any supplies he could before contacting the authorities
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