South African catamaran in heroic rescue off West Australia
by Sail-World Cruising on 16 Apr 2010
rescued Dawn Glory - rudder and one engine lost SW
A catamaran on a voyage from Durban in South Africa to Fremantle has had to be rescued in rough seas when just 36 nautical miles from its destination. It had taken the rescue boats from Australia a long and difficult journey to reach the yacht. The rescue was excessively dangerous for the volunteer rescuers, and at one point the command post wanted the operation called off.
The 12 metre yacht, Dawn Glory with four crew, which had lost its rudder and one engine, was towed in mountainous seas off the West Australian port of Bunbury.
Initially, a Mandurah rescue team attempted to reach the catamaran but was forced to return to shore due to the harsh weather conditions and the vessel drifting further south.
The three Bunbury Sea Rescue volunteers, Hank Rosendal, Wayne Wroth and Gavin O’Dea, battled four metre swells for thirteen hours to save the stricken crew on the catamaran.
The four rescued sailors, three men and one woman, who are based in Perth, first rested in a Bunbury hotel while the Dawn Glory underwent repairs at the Bunbury Sea Rescue base. They had been delivering the yacht from Durban to Fremantle for the new owner.
South African Karl Dahlmann, one of the crew, spoke of his relief last night as the catamaran was pulled to shore.
'We’re very happy to be here,' he said, 'It wasn’t really a worry but the rudder was broken and it’s just been miserable. We’re going to have a beer just now.'
Mr Dahlmann said the crew left South Africa on March 8 and were headed ultimately to Perth.
Despite conditions he likened to a 'washing machine' the crew had remained in good spirits throughout the ordeal.
'We've been out here so long and had a lot of washing machine days along the way and it gets a bit uncomfortable but we managed,' he said.
The crew of the rescued vessel then slept on board last night and were expected to stay in Bunbury while it repairs continue. They hope to travel up the coast in the catamaran in the next few days.
Rescuer Hank Rosendal described the journey of around 30nm north west off of the Bunbury coast was a huge physical and mental challenge.
'We weren’t able to write anything down and were barely able to operate our navigation equipment,' Mr Rosendal said. 'The last rescue that was anything similar to this was about eight or nine years ago.'
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