Surfer From South Africa Out At Sea Near Indonesia For 27 Hours

A South African surfer was rescued after he spent 27 hours floating in the ocean near Indonesia.

He complained of sea sickness the night before and had friends troubled. But after not showing up for breakfast in the morning, Archibald's friends panicked and who knew something wasn't right.

Indonesian and Australian rescuers then sprung into action to try and find him.

Archibald, 50, from Cape Town, apparently fell off a boat while it was at sea on Wednesday.

He was on a surfing expedition in the Mentawai Islands near the island of Sumatra.

The surfer was reportedly stung by jelly fish, scorched by the sun and even almost had his eyes plucked out by seagulls. He managed to stay alive by floating on his back and treading water.

Archibald was found in the ocean lying on his back around 12 miles from where he had fallen overboard.

It turns out that after throwing up due to seasickness Archibald passed out and fell overboard, he remembers waking up because he felt the spray of water on his face. He thought one of his mates was waking him up by pouring water on him, but when he opened his eyes he saw the boat sailing away into the night.

Archibald is very lucky he's a strong swimmer and was able to fight against the strong ocean currents.

On the All Aboard Travel's Facebook page the crew wrote "He is alive. A bit sunburnt and dehydrated. He was floating alone. The boat is taking him to the Indies Trader III so that he can phone his wife."

Archibald says about the rescue:

"I tell you, I'd never been so happy to see a boat in my entire life, even if it was full of Aussies! I'm a converted Aussie, I love these guys!"

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that he continued on with his surfing trip and reportedly said he did not travel thousands of miles to Indonesia just to tread water for 27 hours.