Charlotte Golunski struggled to maintain her balance as she and her one-year-old daughter hurried to the deck of the Bayesian during a stormy night, a tempest that would eventually lead to the loss of the 183-foot yacht. The waves off northern Sicily, as Golunski recounted to local media, caused the vessel to “dance.”
A moment of near tragedy followed. “For two seconds, I lost my baby in the sea,” the young mother shared with Giornale di Sicilia. “Then I quickly embraced her again amidst the chaos of the waves.” Golunski and her partner, identified by local sources as James Emslie, were guests of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch on this luxurious superyacht trip, which was disrupted by severe weather conditions near Sicily. The yacht anchored approximately half a mile from Porticello, an Italian fishing village, as violent waves battered the ship and thunder and lightning rumbled overhead. Local reports indicate that around 4 a.m., the boat began to tilt dangerously. Shortly thereafter, a flare was launched from the vessel. “I held her above water with all my strength, my arms extended to prevent her from drowning,” Golunski recounted to la Repubblica. “It was pitch black. I couldn’t open my eyes in the water. I screamed for help, but all I could hear were the cries of others.” Eventually, Golunski, her daughter Sophie, Emslie, and eight other individuals managed to board an inflatable lifeboat. There were 22 people on the Bayesian, with 15 successfully rescued. Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, and several other passengers remain unaccounted for. A search-and-rescue operation is currently underway. The ship’s chef was the only confirmed fatality reported on Monday. Golunski and Sophie were taken to Di Cristina hospital in Palermo, where Emslie later joined them after being discharged from another facility. Hospital staff informed local media that both mother and daughter were in stable condition. The head of the hospital, Domenico Cipolla, revealed to Corriere della Sera that the survivors' account moved many of the doctors and nurses to tears.