Three people have been saved after rescuers spotted their disabled yacht in an early morning storm thanks to a flare.
Two searchers were about to give up early one May morning, when the flare lit up the stricken 11.5-metre yacht at Jurien Bay, near Perth, in Australia.
The yacht got in trouble when travelling from Carnarvon to Perth in bad weather. The crew tried to shelter in Jurien Bay marina but ran out of fuel, reports the West Australian.
Jurien Bay Volunteer Marine Rescue launched and searched for hours in five-metre swells and 30-knot winds. They were about to turn around when they saw a flare. As they approached, another flare revealed two men in a small raft about 4km offshore. The skipper had remained on board the yacht.
The trio was taken back to dry land and to Jurien Bay Medical Centre to be treated for hypothermia.
One of the rescuers, Mike Cockburn, said it was the hardest rescue he has been involved with. “The conditions were pretty horrendous.”
The yacht washed up on shore along with the raft the following morning.
The image of Jurien Bay is from Wikipedia and is taken by JFizzle. It is reproduced under CreativeCommons.
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