Trio of Yacht Rescues from North Atlantic Gale

by Helen Bradley, Herald Chronicle on 12 Nov 2006 A North Atlantic gale that has churned up waters along the eastern seaboard over the past two days prompted rescue operations Thursday for the crews of two Canadian yachts bound for Bermuda.

That makes three such rescues in the last week.

HMCS Athabaskan was diverted from a voyage to North Carolina to rescue two men and a woman from the 10-metre sailboat La Pierva, which was foundering about 360 kilometres southeast of Yarmouth.

'There were still some fairly large swells,' Capt. Harry Harsch said. 'It wasn’t easy. It was challenging.'

La Pierva, which sailed from Dartmouth last Sunday, was being buffeted by seven-metre seas and winds of 92 kilometres an hour when it issued a distress call Wednesday, Capt. Harsch said.

The gale was part of a storm that lashed Nova Scotia on Thursday, dumping up to 65 millimetres of rain on parts of the province. Winds as high as 108 km/h were reported in Cape Breton by Environment Canada’s weather service.

The Athabaskan, part of a group of three Canadian and two American warships heading for training exercises, arrived at La Pierva’s position at 4 a.m. Thursday.

Another sailboat out of Shelburne was in trouble about 640 kilometres southeast of Cape Cod, Mass., on Thursday.

The Rochelle IV, crewed by four people from Yarmouth, also left Nova Scotia last weekend.

The vessel had lost engine power and its sail, but other than 'getting beat up rather good by the waves' was still in good shape, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Christopher Evanson.

One passenger was rescued from the Rochelle IV late in the afternoon and transferred to the Anthemis, a nearby merchant vessel. But when weather worsened, rescue teams decided to wait until sunrise to go back for the three remaining passengers, said Matt Brooks, a search and rescue specialist with the U.S. Coast Guard.

By 2 p.m. Thursday the storm had subsided enough for the Athabaskan to launch a zodiac to reach La Pierva.

Capt. Harsch said he considered launching a Sea King from the destroyer earlier but the storm was still raging and he considered the move too risky.

'These guys were fine. They were uncomfortable but there was no urgency to get them off. The boat wasn’t sinking and no one had had a heart attack or anything. We stayed with them and talked to them every hour or so.'

The storm had wreaked havoc on the sailboat’s navigating equipment.

'What happened was about two days ago, they took a lightning strike which knocked out all their navigation systems. Then they got stuck in the storm with engineering difficulties so they decided they had to get off the boat,' Capt. Harsch said.

A passing tanker tried to assist but was too big to reach the crew, who are all Canadians.

The zodiac made three trips, bringing La Pierva’s crew safely aboard, while another zodiac and a diver stood by and the Sea King was ready on deck with its blades spread in case one of the boats flipped, Capt. Harsch said.

The two men and the woman aboard the sailboat are in good health and will be flown ashore when the ship is within helicopter range of land, likely Norfolk, Va.

'The thing that the captain found astounding and wonderful was that he was rescued by a Canadian ship. He was quite surprised to see a Canadian flag on the destroyer that was rescuing him,' Capt. Harsch said.

Last Friday, a Nova Scotia couple sailing to Bermuda on a catamaran ran into rough seas off Cape Cod and were unable to steer the vessel. They were picked up by a container ship headed for Finland.