Ben Verheij, 70, was rescued by KNRM volunteers after spending more than 48 hours stranded on the uninhabited IJsselmeer island of De Kreupel, off Andijk. He had left Workum alone at the end of the sailing season. His boat drifted after its anchor came loose at night and struck rocks on the island, leaving a hole in the hull.

Verheij reached the island and used broken sails as a makeshift shelter in the cold. With a dead phone and no distress flares, he could not call for help. Passers-by eventually spotted him and alerted the KNRM. Rescuers said he was panicked and that hypothermia was close; they believed he might not have survived another day. Verheij later described the ordeal in a KNRM podcast.