They were wearing lifejackets by the time they were in the water. She was wearing a swimming costume and a sun-dress, which sounds appropriate to me. They abandoned most of their clothes to swim better.

It sounds like they got to land after 14 hours, and the crew got rescued after 23. It also seems like they could see land when the conditions were right. If I could see land, I'd find it hard to resist the temptation to swim for it. It's hard to spot people in water; they mention a helicopter missing both them and the crew.