West Australian yacht ends up on the sand

by Sail-World Cruising round-up on 1 Jan 2010 It was a sad sight on Boodjidup Beach near the Margaret River in Western Australia this week when one cruiser's dreams ended up on the rocks - or rather the sand.

In an incident that we can all empathise with, the cruising yacht Marie Lynette apparently left Hamelin Bay on Tuesday morning, heading north, but encountered steering problems, understood to be a broken cable, while winds were at their worst, at 65 knots.

The yacht attempted to anchor, but the anchor line broke in the bad conditions and the Marie Lynette ended up on the Boodjidup Beach just after midnight.

The reason that the yacht appears to be sitting on the beach happily is that the keel broke off when the yacht ran aground. The crew telephoned an ambulance, who arrived to transport them to the nearby wine and tourist town of Margaret River. No significant injuries were suffered.

At the time of this report the yacht is believed to be a write-off, as access to the beach is limited to a narrow 4-wheel drive track.