Once again, a dramatic situation on Sunday evening had a minor outcome for the two-man crew of a yacht over ten metres long. They ran aground on the north side of the island of Norderney, but managed to save themselves on land.
At around 10.50 pm, the skipper of the boat, which flies the Swedish flag, contacted the Bremen Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre via channel 16. "He was difficult to understand, at first we couldn't find out what had happened, where the boat was and how many people were on board," reports Gerd Schwips, foreman of the rescue cruiser "Eugen", whose crew had also overheard the distress call.
In another radio message, the sea rescuers faintly made out a reference to the Weiße Düne beach section on the north coast of Norderney. The "Eugen" therefore set course for the suspected area of the accident. At around 11 p.m., the skipper of the sailing yacht reported grounding, and a few minutes later the boat was sitting on the beach. The sea rescuers alerted the Norderney fire brigade.
20 minutes later, the crew of the rescue cruiser found the casualty on the beach on the north side of the island. The Dovetief fairway, which leads from the North Sea into the Norderney estuary, is not far from the scene of the accident.
At the time, there were north-northeasterly winds of around 5 Beaufort and a residual swell of around 2.5 metres - conditions that made it impossible to attempt to tow the boat away from the beach. However, using a powerful searchlight, the rescue crew was able to guide the fire brigade to the site of the stranding.
The two sailors were able to save themselves on land under their own power. They told the fire brigade that there were no other people on board. The shore rescue service took care of them. According to a report by NDR, they were hospitalised. It remains to be seen what will happen to the stranded yacht.
