The two people rescued from a yacht off Sydney’s coast say they are very glad to be back on dry land and were treated to a meat pie and cup of coffee after spending 19 hours clinging to their stricken yacht.
But one of the pair – 48-year-old Lisa – says she will be back out on the ocean as soon as Thursday.
Navy and police vessels battled heavy seas to save Brett, 60, and Lisa from the 19-metre vessel at about 7.25am on Tuesday.
Mechanical failures – including a broken rudder – led to the Spirit of Mateship becoming stranded about 185km east of Nowra, on the New South Wales south coast, before drifting about 300km offshore.
“We’re glad to be back,” Brett, who only provided his first name, told reporters on Tuesday evening.
He said after being rescued “one of the guys made a great coffee”, with Lisa adding that the pair had a meat pie “that helped”.
“The communication from everyone was wonderful and we knew what was going on at all times,” she said.
Brett said the boat was “more than seaworthy” but the pair got tired and seasick so used the boat’s beacon.
“After what has happened with other boats down that way we decided to call in and I think we made the right decision,” he said.
“It was just too much to keep going, it could have got worse,” Lisa said.
When asked when they would be back out at sea, Brett said he “liked dry land now” but Lisa said she would be back on the ocean on Thursday.
The pair said they were looking forward to being back with their families and children.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s Ben Flight said it highlighted the importance of carrying emergency position indicating radio beacons or Epirbs.
“Without the activation of the Epirb ... it’s unlikely we would have been aware of the distress situation,” Flight said.
The distress beacon alert was received at about midday on Monday but heavy seas and strong winds plagued rescue efforts. Dramatic footage of the rescue showed a small police recovery vessel next to the yacht as the two boats rose and fell in heaving seas.
“Got one, one aboard,” an observer can be heard shouting in the video.
The duo were uninjured but exhausted after their near-24-hour ordeal, quickly falling asleep after climbing aboard their rescue vessel.
Anthony Brazzill, a chief inspector with NSW police, labelled the pair “extremely lucky” given winds of between 50 and 70km/h and seas of up to six metres had made executing the rescue effort challenging.
“Their boat wasn’t sinking, but they were definitely taking on water. They’ve got mechanical issues in terrible conditions … it could have been life-threatening if we weren’t able to get to them in time,” he said.
The yacht had to be abandoned.
“Our priority is to rescue people, save lives, not save boats,” Brazzill said. “Depending on conditions it may come in on the coast further down, it may go to New Zealand. These things happen.”
– with Australian Associated Press
