Sail to Noumea ends in sinking off Moreton Island

by Sail-World Cruising on 9 Feb 2010 It was a rueful sailor who was returned to Brisbane by the volunteer Coastguard after his sailing boat sank off the coast of Moreton Island on a trip that had been planned to end in Noumea.

'I was intending to sail to Noumea,' Harold Denning told Brisbane's Courier Mail after he was rescued. 'I didn't get very far.'

Conditions were difficult and the swells were huge when Mr Denning was passing Moreton Island in his 26ft sailing boat, heading for Noumea. It was after dark when the hull of his yacht was cracked by a rogue wave and began to take on water.

In high wind and rain, and with his dinghy already blown off the deck, the yacht began to sink. Mr Denning then took to the rubber liferaft, and set off his EPIRB. However, he described how, after he felt 'something brush under me', he became frightened, so jumped back into the yacht and attempted to bail.

Back at Manly, Coast Guard deputy commander Jason Ferrari received the urgent call from Water Police just after midnight to scramble a crew and put to sea in search of the sinking vessel while they activated a rescue helicopter.

The seas were heavy when the Coast Guard search and rescue vessel CG-22 with its crew of new recruits crossed the bar just below Moreton Island and headed out to sea.

Illuminated by a spotlight from the helicopter who had already arrived, the Coast Guard crew came alongside, took the yacht in tow and started back to Manly.

However, after travelling only a short distance, the yacht started to take in a great deal more water, and its bow began slipping below the waves. The Coast Guard crew immediately dropped their tow rope, went alongside the yacht, and plucked its skipper from the stern just as the stricken boat sank.

The Coast Guard vessel then returned to Manly, arriving at 6am with Mr Denning safely aboard.

AGL Helicopter Rescue crewman Rick Harvey, who watched the ordeal from the air, said conditions had been extremely treacherous.

'On our way to the search area, visibility was basically zero, we couldn't see the horizon or the water, and it was only due to the skill and experience of our pilot that we could even get to the area and descend low enough to break through the heavy cloud,' he said.

'The conditions made this a difficult search and it was the cooperation of a number of highly skilled emergency services working together which probably saved the man's life.

'The boat had lost all electrics, had a crack in the hull and was taking on water fast. This is a great example of how the response system works in an emergency situation.'