Survivors of the the west Cork boating mishap that took the life of a sixty six year old man spent the evening on an island after their yacht capsized. A pair visiting from the United Kingdom were seen on a cliff at the Castle Island which is just off the mouth of Schull harbor by rescue personnel early yesterday.
Denis Quinlan, the Schull Inshore Lifeboat PRO, told that they were incoherent, even though they were in a frowzled state and visibly shook. Speaking to the rescuers, the couple told that all three on board were in the water clinging to the vessel, a 19ft Drascombe Lugger, after it capsized.
It is believed that the yacht might have capsized after it was struck by a blow of wind. Weather status were reported to be very windy earlier on Wednesday night, with wind speeds and squalls locally of between fifteen and twenty knots. The male survivor, aged seventy five and his sixty-six year old partner, were found at 6.15 am when the Schull Inshore Lifeboat crew listened the sound of what they earlier thought was a seagull.
Mr Quinlan told the Large Yacht Charter website on further investigation, they saw 2 people up on a cliff about forty ft above sea level on the western end of the island. Not been able to take the 6.8m rescue rib to the shore, the rescue crew of 4 circled around to the wharfage on the north-east end of Castle Island and they reached out to the survivors across the island on foot.
The couple were uninjured, but they were suffering from hypothermia. After that the couple were airlifted to Baltimore and then taken to the Bantry General Hospital.