Eagle's Quest II rescued by Canadian Coastguard in the NW Passage.
by Yvette Brend, CBC News on 3 Sep 2016
Eagle's Quest II crew Chu Kee Duen
An Arctic expedition that set off in June from Hokkaido, Japan, to Iceland ended up aground on Wednesday in Canada's treacherous Northwest passage, cheering the Canadian Coast Guard's arrival after a harrowing night.The Hong-Kong registered 58-foot sailboat set out from Tokyo on 5 June, despite warnings from experienced Arctic adventurers about using a 'plastic' boat and a green crew.
Voyage organiser, Chu Kee Duen, thanked the Canadian Coast Guard, describing the harrowing overnight rescue after his boat ran aground in 2m of water at high tide on the journey between Cambridge Bay and Gjoa Haven, Nunavut. 'The depth changed suddenly from 25 metres to 2 metres... We could not avoid running aground,' Duen posted on Facebook on 31 August.
The crew tried to use a 15-horsepower dinghy to pull the ship back to sea with ropes but even at full engine speed had no luck. 'We had no hope to escape and confirmed to coast guard that we needed their rescue. They came in 12 hours and waited for daybreak,' he said.
Duen blamed 'improperly surveyed open sea,' but he was warned of the dangers of the passage months earlier by experienced sailors who saw him post ads to attract crew.
Full story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/arctic-expedition-eagle-s-quest-ii-coast-guard-rescue-tax-payer-1.3745314
[Editor's Note. Not the first time Eagles's Quest has run aground: Here she is in November 2015, in the 'Back Passage' to the north of Yin Tim Tsai in Port Shelter, Hong Kong, and right next to a yellow and black cardinal mark (out of shot). This is definitely not an 'improperly surveyed' area. Maybe it was a 'dry run'?]
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