The motorboat on the beach in Grand Case before it was freed and towed back to Marigot by SNS 129. (SNSM photo)
MARIGOT--SNSM sea rescue volunteers towed a nine-metre motorboat back to Marigot on Saturday after it had run aground on the beach in Grand Case with five people on board. The occupants were safe, but the boat was stuck fast in the sand.
A call was made to the surveillance centre CROSS which in turn informed SNSM of the problem. SNS 129 Notre Dame de La Garoupe with four crew members responded and arrived at the site in Grand Case about 3:00pm, the lifeboat being well suited to this type of mission.
The crew found the boat in question lying sideways on the beach and, to not find themselves in the same predicament as the beached boat, SNS 129 stayed 100 metres offshore. A first attempt to pull the boat off the beach from the stern failed. A second attempt by attaching a towing line from the bow was successful and the boat slowly broke free from the sand and could float again.
SNS 129 towed the boat back to Marigot Bay with two of the occupants. The three others were asked to take a taxi in case there were any complications during the towing operation. On arrival in Marigot Bay, in front of the Sandy Ground bridge, the owner told SNSM crew that he had restarted one of his engines, that his boat was manoeuvrable and he could go under the bridge by his own means. The operation for SNSM was successful and completed at 4:57pm.
For the owner of the motorboat it turned out to be an expensive Saturday outing: towing, taxi and repair cost (the boat sustained one twisted propeller shaft). Fortunately, the boat ran aground on sand, between two flat rocks; otherwise, damage could have been worse.
SNSM reminds the population that emergency interventions involving towing are free of charge, but in other, non-emergency situations towing has a charge according to established rates.
