16/04/2012

Ebay Sailors Crash Yacht On Maiden Voyage

A man and his son had to be rescued when the yacht they had bought on eBay was washed onto rocks in Guernsey.

The novice sailors had gone to collect the boat and decided to try and move it just 700 metres from a marina to a neighbouring harbour. However, having "little or no knowledge" of the area, and it being after midnight, they crashed the boat into a nearby reef.

They made an emergency call to the coastguard but a lifeboat sent to rescue them was unable to get near the rocks.

Eventually, a dinghy rescued the hapless seamen at 2am.

The pale blue yacht Ardel remained teetering on the rocks on Monday as Sid Hashim and his son pleaded with the harbour master to try and rescue it.

But they have been told that they must wait until an equally large tide pushes it off or until the waves smash her to pieces.


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