From Sailing to Shipwreck, in One Shuddering Moment..

It was quite a foggy, calm morning that Friday, (11th April), as I looked out over St Helena Bay, in a bit of a *dwaal, while sipping my coffee, like what does the weather have in store for us, today..? *Lovely Afrikaans slang for reverie :)

I noticed this yacht that, at first glance, was moored right next to the rocks. I grabbed my big lens, which doubles as my telescope, and took the first photo below. No, something’s not right here, so I went down to have a closer look.

All was not well!

Oh boy, one can only imagine his sinking feeling, when the truth quickly sunk home. The yacht was firmly wedged high and dry on the rocks about 100m from the shore, its keel sheared clean off. It was probably under motor at the time, as there was hardly any wind.

This shoreline is riddled with rocks, stretching quite far out to sea, some only visible at low tide. No experienced sailor would have ventured there.

But what was he thinking.. or drinking?! Probably neither, but if he had had something in his hand, he would have surely spilled it, in one reality-checking moment of “Oh no, this can’t be happening!”

Today, I found out the following from a yachtie friend. The boat is a 30’ Miura named Ocean Blue. It was bought by a foreigner, had no *COF, therefore no insurance, and no VHF radio on board.

*(A Certificate of Fitness (COF) is the "license" that allows a vessel to operate legally on the water. It is a safety document that needs to be renewed annually, and is only issued after the vessel is inspected and found to meet the required safety standards. Fair enough..)

I contacted the local NSRI, who about two hours later, once the fog had sufficiently lifted, rescued them from the boat. The yachties had to swim over to their craft, and were then whisked off to another yacht further out to sea, presumably their buddies.

Right now, the yacht is being plundered in a free-for-all. As it apparently had no insurance, to whom ownership would have transferred, would that assume it is open to public salvage? Too late, she cried..

Was it incompetence, plain ignorance, or some other reason for them to run aground right there?

That’s all I know. If anyone else has more info to share, please message me or share in the comments below.

Cheers.

From the veranda. It looked like it was taking on water.

From the shore, things are more bleak. The owners are still on board, no doubt packing up what they could, before help arrived.

The NSRI came to the rescue, but couldn’t draw up right alongside, so the sailors had to swim over.

The following photos, including this one, were sent to me, not taken by me. Some kayakers, maybe even the owners, took the photos. Possibly they were there to salvage what they could, before it became a free-for-all. Note how much more rock is exposed on a lower tide.

Note the lad there for size.

Ocean Blue meets a watery, premature end.