Yacht washed onto rocks in Maitland Bay
Broken Bay Water Police have coordinated the rescue of a stricken yachtsman after his 8.3 metre vessel was washed onto rocks at Maitland Bay, Killcare, on Sunday, November 3.
Around 5:45pm, the captain of the vessel called his wife to say the yacht was in distress off Palm Beach.
Broken Bay Water Police launched a search and rescue operation using police vessel Sea Eagle.
The team began a search close to land from Palm Beach to North Avalon Headland.
Westpac Lifesaver 1 Rescue Helicopter joined the search along the area south from Barrenjoey Heads to North Avalon.
Cottage Point Volunteer Marine Rescue was also called to assist.
The Rescue Coordination centre advised that they had not received any beacon activation in the area.
Water police and Lifesaver 1 were unable to locate the vessel in distress and continued to search in Broken Bay from Flint and Steel to Lion Island.
Police triangulated the mobile call, which was made near Box Head, Wagstaffe.
Around 7:30pm, Lifesaver 1 located the vessel and yachtsman on the northern reef of Maitland Bay, Killcare.
The yacht was on the reef, but the sailor had managed to swim a short distance to safety on the rocky shoreline.
He was winched on board Lifesaver 1 from the beach and taken to North Palm Beach Lifesaving Club, where he was met by NSW ambulance paramedics and Northern Beaches police.
The yachtsman was uninjured but shaken.
Due to the extreme wind and sea conditions that night, water police were unable to attempt to salvage the yacht.
Commander of the Marine Area Command detective superintendent Mark Hutchings warned of the dangers of Maitland Bay, which was named following a shipwreck that claimed 24 lives.
The paddle steamer PS Maitland was shipwrecked in that bay in 1898 with 34 passengers on board.
"This is a particularly treacherous part of the coastline and should be avoided when the weather is forecast to turn bad," detective superintendent Hutchings said.
Media release, 4 Nov 2013
NSW Police Media