24-footer still stranded on Guernsey reef
Two sailors have run their eBay yacht aground just 400 metres into their shakedown cruise.
The unnamed duo spent £3,000 buying the 24-footer on the auction website, but quickly ran into trouble on a reef near the entrance to Guerney’s St Peter Port harbour (pictured).
After hitting the rocks they made a Mayday call, but the lifeboat could not get near them. The pair were eventually rescued by a dinghy, but the yacht, Ardel, remains stranded on Goubeau Reef.
Guernsey harbour master, Peter Gill, said: ‘It happened just outside St Peter Port and the yacht was attempting to move from the QEII marina to another marina inside the harbour.
‘They were doing it in the middle of the night and the distance is about 700 metres. They were about 400 metres into the journey. The people on board had little or no knowledge of the area and were not local.
‘They had been on the top of the tide and it deposited them on the rocks. Subsequent tides have not been as big so the yacht hasn’t floated off yet. The next tide that might do it is this afternoon.
‘If that doesn’t do it then it might be lucky to survive because the weather forecast doesn’t look good.’