43 Rescued from Foundered Yachts

by UPI/AAP on 13 Feb 2008 Two yachts ran afoul of heavy seas pounding the Australian coast in Queensland Tuesday, forcing the rescue of 43 people from the foundering luxury vessels.

In the first incident, thirty-seven passengers and crew were plucked from an 23m yacht that ran aground on the Whitsunday Islands, The Age reported. Rescuers had to reach the stranded occupants by helicopter.

'There are no injuries and Hayman Island is feeding them at the moment and then they're going to be moved down to Mackay,' a Queensland police spokesman told The Age.

With the two-masted schooner tilting precariously and being battered by large waves, the crew and European tourists tried without success early yesterday to make it ashore to Hook Island in the Whitsundays.

The conditions forced rescuers to abandon a plan to use boats or string a line to shore. After more than seven hours, all 32 passengers and five crew were winched to safety by the helicopters.

The Romance, which takes tourists on two-day sail and dive trips, hit difficulties about 2am yesterday when it started drifting towards Hook Island, authorities said.

Police received a call from the vessel about an hour later telling them the ketch was on the rocks at Cave Cove on the western side of the island.

An Emergency Service Queensland spokesman said the vessel — which recently underwent a $300,000 refit — was at a 45-degree angle on sharp rocks and was being battered by large waves when rescue crews arrived.

One of the rescue helicopter crewmen, Phillip Dowler, said the backpackers spoke of a panicked wait for help in the two to three metre swell and 40-knot winds.

'It was too far to jump off the rocky ledge where they had got stuck … and they actually tried to get ashore and couldn't,' Mr Dowler said.

'They launched a life raft off the vessel. That went into the rocks and it deflated straight away.

'They tried to get off a few times but decided to stay on board, which was a very good, smart idea.'

Mr Dowler said there were difficulties communicating with the European passengers, but they relaxed when they saw the rescue efforts.

'They were a bit apprehensive when we first got there,' he said. 'I guess being stuck there … they didn't know whether the boat was going to sink — they were panicking.'

By 10am, all passengers had been airlifted from the yacht to Hayman Island. The rescue lasted an hour, as backpackers were winched to the helicopters two at a time.

The helicopters then returned to rescue the remaining five crew and two rescue personnel on board.

Doctor Julianne Schliebs, aboard one of the helicopters, said the passengers were lucky to escape with only minor injuries.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh yesterday thanked all those who had participated in the 'daring and courageous rescue'.

Police said a family of six were also lucky to escape with their lives early yesterday morning when their yacht smashed into rocks at the Coral Sea Resort at Airlie Beach. The yacht was 10 metres from a rock wall where extreme seas and gale-force winds were pounding it.

A 35-year-old couple and their children, aged 10, seven, four and two, who lived on the boat, were helped ashore by officers who stood on the rocks. Police said the yacht began taking on water and breaking up during the rescue, in which an officer became entangled in ropes and dragged under water.

The family and officers reached shore just as the yacht was destroyed.