Two Barbadian men, who were rescued at sea in December, are about to complete their original journey - on the same boat - just six weeks after their life-threatening ordeal.

Whitfield Braithwaite and Alphonso Barrow will be setting sail on the Sea Gypsy either later today or Saturday - they have opted not to begin their journey tomorrow, the unlucky Friday 13.

"We just need to complete our voyage," they said of the seven to eight day passage they are undertaking to Barbados, via St. Maarten.

The two men, along with Mr. Braithwaite's brother, Joseph and Whitfield, were rescued 118 miles north of the Island on December 20, 2003, after having set out from St. John's, Newfoundland on December 12.

Two days into their journey, they hit a vicious storm, with swells of 40 feet or more which lasted for two days.

"If you have ever seen 'A Perfect Storm', that's what it was like," the men said.

Hunkering down in the boat, they prayed for their lives and for their safe return to family and friends in Barbados.

For almost 48 hours were at the mercy of the sea, tossed relentlessly by the gigantic waves.

When the sea finally calmed down they found they had lost all power and could not reach anyone to say that they were alive or what their location was.

The men waited on the lifeless boat for four long days before they were eventually rescued.

"We lived on uncooked macaroni, Cornflakes and a tea cup of water a day," said Mr. Barrow, who was on his maiden voyage.

"We realised that the water tanks, which carry 600 gallons, had been damaged during the storm.

"We weren't sure how long it would take before we were rescued and the Atlantic is a big ocean - we could have been floating around for a month."

Mr. Braithwaite is a friend of fisherman Bobby Lambe, who suffered a worse fate last January when he his lost two friends on the New Nuts.

He said: "I was scared. I just kept saying I want to see my grandson grow to become a man. We all kept praying."

The boat's owner, Chally Jones, probably saved their lives.

Mr. Jones alerted Bermuda Harbour Radio that the Sea Gypsy was missing, who then informed the US Coast Guard of their last known co-ordinates.

The Lykes Discoverer, a merchant vessel, rescued the trio, and the 42-foot Sea Gypsy was abandoned to the North Atlantic.

The men were rescued on December 20, and taken to Charleston, South Carolina.

They arrived back in Barbados on December 30.

Oddly however, the Sea Gypsy, left to her own devices decided to head for their original destination - Bermuda - and was recovered by Marine and Ports and Marine Police, 13 miles east of St. David's Lighthouse.

Crewman, Whitfield Braithwaite, who made the journey to Bermuda to take her home, said he had predicted as much.

"Before we were rescued, I had said, she was going to come to Bermuda.

"The tides brought her here."

The Sea Gypsy, which suffered only minor structural damage, will now complete her passage.

"It was really worrying when they were lost at sea," said owner Mr. Jones, who is general manager of Blue Ribbon Co. Ltd, a fish supplier. "These guys have worked for me for over 20 years.

"People thought they had been lost in the Bermuda Triangle."

Mr. Jones said he bought the boat for Mr. Barrow, who captained a smaller boat Heidi Sue, because he needed a larger boat.

"Alphonso is the best fisherman in Barbados - whenever he went out he needed to come back, because there wasn't enough room for the fish or he needed more ice," he said.

Mr. Jones went to Harbour Radio to thank the staff for their assistance before leaving the Island today.