At 10h52 on Sunday 29 April, NSRI Simonstown volunteer sea rescue duty crew were activated following a request for assistance from the 51 foot Chinese yacht O-Feeling with 5 male sailors onboard, all from Xiamen, China, 15 nautical miles South of Cape Point reporting to be limping towards Cape Town after suffering some structural damage during her voyage from South America and requiring assistance to get into Port.
The yacht, originally reportedly heading to Cape Town from last Port of call Chile, South America, had suffered a broken boom and then suffered engine failure, but the crew had managed to continue sailing towards Cape Town under foresails,” said Darren Zimmerman, NSRI Simonstown station commander.
NSRI Simonstown volunteer sea rescue duty crew launched the sea rescue craft Spirit of Safmarine III and rendezvoused with the yacht 5 nautical miles South of Cape Point
“On arrival on-scene we found the yacht making good progress under sail and we escorted them into False Bay and then took them under tow and brought them into Simonstown harbour where they will effect repairs before continuing,” said Darren.
By pure coincidence, NSRI Simonstown crewman Gerry Norris, duty navigator onboard the NSRI Simonstown sea rescue craft Spirit of Safmarine III, during todays rescue operation of the Chinese Yacht O-Feeling, speaks Chinese fluently.
Gerry spent a number of years working and living in China and three generations of his family have lived and worked in China, the most recent, his son, who returned from China two weeks ago after assisting on an Americas Cup yacht building job.
“We were informed when we embarked on the rescue operation that the yachtsmen we were going to assist were Chinese and Gerry mentioned to me, as we left Simonstown harbour, that if there were any communication barriers he spoke Chinese fluently,” said Darren.
“When we rendezvoused with the yacht we were struggling a bit to make sense of each other, attempting to explain to the yachtsmen how the tow operation would work, how to get the towing bridle across, etcetera,” said Darren, but with Gerry onboard, speaking to the Chinese in their home language, everything went pretty smoothly.”
“One can appreciate, to all of our surprise, I’m sure more to the Chinese sailors but no less to Gerry’s fellow NSRI crewmen, when Gerry, our duty Navigator, took the radio handset and began speaking to the Chinese sailors in their home language.”
The yachtsmen, on an around-the-world cruise, departed from Xiamen, on the East coast of China on November third, their first port of call being Manila, Philippines islands in the Pacific Ocean. They then headed for Palau, Papua New Guinea, and then onto Brisbane and then Sydney, Australia. They then sailed to Wellington, New Zealand and then to Chile in South America. The yachtsmen then sailed around the notorious Cape Horn and prepared themselves for the long-haul across the Atlantic towards the Cape. It was while crossing the Atlantic that difficulties arose onboard O-Feeling with gear failure involving the standing rigging and engine.
The next step for the crew will be to undertake repairs before heading west to Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and then to complete their circumnavigation by heading back to China. Two of the crew of five – a Mr Yang and the other sailor who goes under the English name of Shark – speak some English and they expressed their gratitude to NSRI for the assistance in enabling them to make a safe landfall at the False Bay Yacht Club, Simonstown.
