According to an Italian news article, a pair of flat-earthers from northern Italy set sail from Sicily hoping to reach the remote island of Lampedusa which - for them - represented the edge of a flat world.

Unfortunately, the couple didn't quite make it. They had set sail for their desired destination but ended up on the island of Ustica, which is not even close to their desired destination. (awkward.)

The disorientated pair arrived in the harbour at Ustica "tired, thirsty, and risking shipwreck," to the dismay of the local mayor and the coast guard, according to Italian media.

"The funny thing is that they oriented themselves with a compass, an instrument that works on the basis of terrestrial magnetism, a principle that they, as flat-earthers, should refuse," Salvatore Zichici, a doctor at the maritime department of the ministry of health, told Italian newspaper La Stampa.

After their rescue, they were placed in a COVID quarantine for 15 days. However, the couple had other plans. Determined to make it to the end of the world, the couple attempted another escape via boat and were picked up by the harbour master not far from the coast, though they had been out at sea for hours. Escorted back into quarantine for the second time, they attempted a third escape, however this La Stampa article reports that they were eventually returned home by land, to the "understandable general relief" of all.

Phew. What a train wreck. Or, should I say, flat-out disaster.