BBC Somerset Sound's Jess Rudkin flew to Canada to meet him after his rescue. She spoke to Dom Mee just minutes after he stepped off the Canadian Coast Guard's cutter in the early hours of Thursday 29 September, 2005. You can listen to this first and exclusive interview with Dom Mee by clicking on this audio link: The 34-year-old, who lives in West Buckland near Wellington, was trying to be the first person to sail across the Atlantic in a boat powered by a large kite. His attempt went badly wrong when his boat was lashed by the combined effects of four hurricanes. | "I had to get control of the situation in a very volatile and violent ocean. There wasn't time to panic - I really had to focus on staying alive." | | Dom Mee |
Speaking exclusively to BBC Somerset Sound, Dom said: "It was a freak incident which happened. We'd been through some pretty big storms already, but the boat and equipment were fine. "But then there was a huge storm which came through at about 55 knots. I was in a force 10 situation. This wasn't such a hassle for the boat and me, but the trip line snared around the sea anchor. "I had to let this go, and within that split second, I got hit by a big, big wave which spun the boat the whole way around. "This wrapped the sea anchor around the keel, which then cut in and sawed itself in half. Once I'd lost that sea anchor, I was absolutely screwed. "I then essentially become a 14-ft boat facing 20 to 30-ft waves breaking on top of the boat. So, I wasn't going to survive there for very long."  | | Dom is plucked from the sea by the crew of Cygnus |
Dom was rescued on the morning of Monday 26 September by a Canadian Coast Guard cutter. "I was upside down in the boat for five hours - in total the whole recovery, from the rescue boat getting to me, took 25 hours," Dom said.  | | Dom thanks Captain Brian Penny for rescuing him |
"We really had to try and get control of the situation in a very volatile and violent ocean. There wasn't time to panic - I really had to focus on staying alive and getting that boat stabilised in some way." On being back on dry land, Dom said: "It feels pretty good to be back. It's quite surreal at the moment, though, as I've been living on my own in a cabin for 40 days, and then the ordeal of the storm was pretty hairy. "But I've been broken back into society gently by the Canadian Coast Guard who have been very welcoming and supportive." Listen to what Dom has planned for his next adventure: | 
