Two winched to safety at Herne Bay
- Mon, 4 Jan 2010
- Comments (1)
At 05:00 on New Years Eve, in storm-tossed seas, a four-week-old £300,000 yacht ran aground and capsized on Hook Sands two miles off Reculver, Kent.
The two men on board had collected the yacht Justice from Ramsgate and were en route to St Katherine's Dock in London, where they both live.
A helicopter crew was scrambled from Belgium and winched the men, both IT experts, to safety. They were airlifted to Margate's Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital, and were soon released after a check-up. The shocked pair returned to Herne Bay later to watch as the yacht wreckage was washed up on the beach in front of the Kings Hall.
Margate lifeboat answered the Mayday distress call, attached a tow line to the 45ft yacht and pulled it off the sandbank. Unfortunately water poured into the yacht, causing it to sink.
Richard Shorter,
January 05 15:07
I have made the passage through the Gore Channel and the Four Fathoms channel many, many times. It is easy with GPS but the Hook Spit buoy is frequently moved and you have to have up to date information. They ran aground close to low water, so they must have left Ramsagate about 03:30 in poor weather. There was a full moon but it may have been cloudy. Why make a tricky passage in those conditions? This is typical of yachties trying to save a gallon of fuel: they timed their passage to take maximum advantage of the flood tide taking them up to St Katherine's. Far better to leave at 09:00, do the tricky bit in daylight on a rising tide and get to sheltered waters before waiting for the next tide. However, I do feel very sorry for them.