Cape Town man survives 27 hours in Indonesian sea without a lifejacket

A Cape Town man was found sunburnt and dehydrated, but alive after drifting at sea for 27 hours without a lifejacket in Indonesia, said the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).

"He said he came close to drowning at least eight times during his 27-hour ordeal, swimming and drifting at sea, and that he had been stung by jellyfish, picked at by fish, and seagulls had tried to pluck his eyes out," said NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon.

Brett Archibald, from Camps Bay, was on a boat during surfing trip to the Mentawai Islands, off Sumatra, when he became sea sick. He was thought to have passed out on the deck and fallen overboard, said Lambinon.

He said Archibald remembered waking up in the sea and seeing the boat move away from him.

No one aboard the boat, the Naga Laut, realised he had gone overboard.

He was found around 1am on Thursday near Sipura Island by people onboard a surf charter boat.

Lambinon said he was apparently in good spirits, but that his medical condition would be assessed. He intended completing his surfing trip before returning home.