On our mobile phone we were using the GPS to see if were still on track, but none of us was trained to do this. The situation was very similar to the Titanic but we had no captain to steer us. We had to rely on what we had seen in Hollywood movies and cartoons, and this sort of thing.
We decided to move slower until the waves became less aggressive and we kept moving for 6 hours. We had enough fuel and the engine was functioning properly, so there was no need for panic. Was it going to take a long time? We just wanted to see something that resembled an island and the sun had still some time before it came up.
In the front of the boat, a young man stood up and said that he could see flickering lights in the distance. He thinks it’s the island, which reminded me of a children’s cartoon I had seen. Anyway, it was land — we had found land and everyone was now happy. Was that a Greek island or had we made a turn and returned to Turkey? This was one of the jokes we were throwing out while laughing.
Indeed, after half an hour we reached shore and started looking for a place to stop the boat and let everyone out. We found a place that was a bit narrow, but it was fine.
We got off the boat and there were stairs that led to the island. Samos island was a mountainous island. We climbed the stairs until we reached the street, and on it was a Greek flag. The Turkish phone connection reached this island, so I immediately wrote to my wife and my brother on Whatsapp and sent them some photos to prove we’d made it. I have arrived to the island, safe.
Age: 26
Country of Origin: Syria
Host Country: Germany
Civil Status: Married to Alaa, with two children (wife and children in Jordan)