Ice

Picture this. Going out ice fishing and all of a sudden the temperature rises. The ice cracks and you find yourself separte from the main land, a float on a piece of ice in the middle of the sea.

It happened to a couple of guys in 1846. It took 14 days before they were resqued, only 2 survived.
Read the story here (in ducth).



They guys came from a town called Durgerdam (see left picture), a small town under the smoke of Amsterdam. There is copper plate there somewhere commemorating the mentioned endurance.

Another good site is this one. Unfortunately, it is in Dutch.