12/16/2003: Scrawled SOS saves man
 

http://cellar.org/2003/sos.jpg

54-year-old British nature tourist Howard Holdsworth was in barren Western Australia, driving alone to a nature preserve, but he mistakenly drove past it. And then he found his vehicle bogged down until it wouldn't move.

At that point he was totally stranded on a beautiful section of beach. But without fresh water he would soon be in trouble. So he created this huge SOS banner in the sand, which a routine passing coastline patrol happened to sea. They mounted a rescue and Mr. Holdsworth is fine.

I include it here because you always see standed people and castaways making these big SOS signs and flashing their belt buckles at passing ships and planes, but this is the first time I've ever heard of it actually working.

http://cellar.org/2003/holdsworth.jpg

Reminds me of when Gilligan screwed up the burning log SOS and changed it to SOL. A passing plane said, "Hmmm, SOL, must be the islanders' way of greeting us."

Newbie Post
 

...be gentle...

Angle's all wrong. Looks like he's lying on the beach..

Cute overall..

Why would anyone go so far out into the deadly booneys without, at minimum, a radio - one that also transmits?

UT posted: "which a routine passing coastline patrol happened to sea."

The way I see it, they were a Class C sea patrol complete with a seeing eye dog that saw them. :)

Why waste energy underlining SOS ?

save our soals
 

This was on the front page of our paper the other day, he wasnt the only one in the team. my paper read there was another tourist who decided not to wait with his vehicle and try to walk to a nearby aborigional community for help, but he died en route -" if your lost in the bush you gotta stay with your vehicle and wait for help, if you try walking away - its a matter of hours, not days before your dead." apparently it was something like 47 degrees the day they got bogged.

i used to live in Dubbo on a property and although we were only 80 K from township, i stiill had a radio CB, 3 way attached to my car, and also a portable in my glovebox just in case i had to walk to get a signal. I feel the Australian Tourism Association should have more assistance for the tourists that come here, everyday you hear of someone lost in the desert! or picking up a hitchhiker! or just not expecting the dangerous heat and terrain that we have here!

(why underline?) So they would know which way was up, silly!

(I'm just trying to match my current user title, which is back to "often wrong")

The story (which I forgot to link) mentioned that he did have some survival skills, but he found it difficult to put them to use, because it was so hot he couldn't think straight.

which ever way (up or down) you look at SOS it is still SOS.

(im just pointing out the already pointed out obvious and makin a fool of sun_sparkz arnt i?)

I expect so.
But that makes it an ambigram, which is cool.

Maybe he underlined it because he was trying to make it a link.

We're so technologically adapted these days, it is hard to separate yourself from it...I once tried to turn on the TV during a power outage in an ice storm to watch the Weather Channel...

I know, sometimes in winter when the gas runs out i still walk up and stand in front of the heater, when its not even on! forces of habit.

Good thing I wasn't drinking anything. I'd have sprayed my monitor. :) That one snuck up on me.