Update 3: Salvage vessel tows yacht
A salvage vessel took the yacht under tow this morning and NSRI is longer required.
UPDATE 2: Yacht assistance KZN-SOUTH COAST, Sunday and Monday, 29th and 30th March:During this morning, Monday, 30th March, NSRI Port Edward and NSRI Shelly Beach launched sea rescue craft to go to the assistance of Yacht SARA.The owner of the vessel reported to be suffering motion sickness confirmed that his condition had deteriorated and a paramedic accompanied sea rescue and medically attended to the owner who remained unwilling to leave the yacht.Later, while preparing to continue their voyage towards East London the skipper requested NSRI assistance to assist him to leave his yacht and get to shore.NSRI rescue crew from NSRI Durban, all trained yachtsmen, have arrived at NSRI Shelly Beach and are being taken out to the yacht and they will sail the yacht to Durban with the yachts Skipper.The owner is being taken off the yacht by NSRI Shelly Beach and brought to NSRI Shelly Beach and he will arrange to go back to Durban by road.The 3 NSRI yacht crewman and the skipper are sailing the yacht to Durban.
UPDATE: Yacht assistance KZN-South Coast, Sunday and Monday, 29th and 30th March:
The casualty yacht SARA had moved too far South by 02h00 and NSRI Durban, with over 50 nautical miles to cover to catch up with the casualty yacht, were released to stand-down and return to base. (The yacht is in no imminent danger and the urgency for immediate assistance is no longer required).(The original requirement was to tow them to Durban Port so that they could have their electrical malfunction repaired.)With the casualty yacht by then already past Port Edward the NSRI Port Edward duty crew have remained on alert to respond to assist the 2 sailors, if necessary, and NSRI Port St Johns and NSRI East London have been placed on alert. The yacht is currently under sail and continuing on her original voyage.Once the yacht reaches East London the NSRI East London crew may launch to bring her into Port so that they can have their electrical malfunction repaired.The 2 yachtsman on board the casualty yacht remain safe and are in no imminent danger. They are heading in the direction that they originally intended to go (towards their destination Cape Town) and are sailing well with favourable sea conditions. While NSRI and the Transnet National Ports Authority will continue to monitor their progress there is no requirement for any kind of immediate assistance to be rendered and when they get to off East London our crew may launch to bring them into Port.
Original press release below…At around 19h00, Sunday, 29th March, NSRI Shelly Beach duty crew were placed on alert by the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) following a request for assistance from the 70 foot yacht SARA, with 2 men on board, sailing from Durban to Cape Town, reporting electrical failure, at that stage approximately 5 nautical miles off Port Shepstone lighthouse.It appears that they had turned around to head back towards Durban after the yacht suffered an electrical malfunction. Faced with unfavourable winds at least one of the crew reportedly suffering from motion sickness, they requested assistance.Not willing to abandon the yacht and not being in any dire emergency the 2 crew had opted to attempt to sail the yacht back to Durban but by around 22h30 it became apparent that they had drifted to within one and a half nautical miles from shore.It then became apparent that they could not deploy their electrical anchor and had no manual sea anchor on board. Suspecting to be caught in the Agulhas currents they thought that they were drifting Southwards and may have already passed Shelly Beach (heading in the direction of Port Edward) but were not able to give their GPS position because of their electrical malfunction.They put up a sail to slow their drift.At 23h00, NSRI Durban duty crew launched the sea rescue craft EIKOS RESCUER II and are expected to reach the area at around 04h00 on Monday morning, NSRI Shelly Beach duty crew remain on station and ready to launch the sea rescue craft SPIRIT OF DAWN to assist the casualty crew if it should become necessary and have embarked on an effort to locate the yacht’s position. NSRI Port Edward duty crew have been placed on alert to respond to assist if it becomes necessary.TO REPORT A SEA RESCUE EMERGENCY DIAL 112 FROM A CELLPHONESMS 32287 with your name and a message of support for our Sea Rescue crew
