TWO DANISH pensioners were rescued from their yacht Danaoff the coast of west Cork yesterday after they got into difficulties.
The men left the Azores 11 days ago in their 36ft yacht. The yacht was travelling in the direction of Kinsale, Co Cork, when it experienced difficulties close to 30 miles southwest of Baltimore in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Shortly after 2am yesterday, the Baltimore Lifeboat launched in gale force conditions. It is understood the yacht was in serious danger as her engines were disabled.
One member of the crew had been suffering from an extended period of sea sickness while the other crew member had not slept for two days.
A mechanic from the RNLI brought the vessel under control. The yacht was later towed to safety at Castletownbere where the sailors received medical attention for non-life threatening injuries.
Skipper John Olsen (69) had met up with his friend Victor Samder (72) in the Azores two weeks ago. The pair set sail together on the last leg of Mr Olsen’s round the world adventure which began in May 2010.
Mr Olsen, who is a retired sea captain, decided to head to Ireland. However, during the journey Mr Samder became extremely sea sick leaving Mr Olsen to sail single-handedly.
Mr Olsen went without sleep for two days. Suffering from exhaustion he decided to take down the sails and use the engines. However, he developed engine problems and eventually had to send out a Mayday.
Mr Olsen will remain in west Cork while repairs are being carried out to his boat. He said: “I knew by the excellent manner in which the Castletownbere lifeboat crew handled the situation that we were in safe hands.
“I want to thank everyone here for their help and the way they looked after us when we landed in Castletownbere.”
Meanwhile, two men were rescued when their speedboat sank in Galway Bay at the weekend.
They were brought to safety by a trained RNLI crewman who was nearby in his fishing boat.
The Irish Lights vessel, the Grainne Uaile, also came to the rescue of the men when their 15ft speedboat started taking water and sank on Saturday evening.
The men managed to raise the alarm when the incident happened between Seapoint and Mutton Island.
The Grainne Uaile,which was working in the area, went to the scene along with a fishing vessel, The Tranquillity,which was skippered by Galway RNLI Lifeboat crew member Patrick Oliver.
The two men, who were wearing lifejackets, were in the water by the time help arrived as the speedboat sank quickly.
The Grainne Uaileimmediately launched a small boat and their crew took them on board. Galway RNLI Lifeboat arrived shortly afterwards and transferred the two men on to the lifeboat.
One of them needed medical attention and was hypothermic.
One of the members of RNLI Lifeboat crew, Olivia Byrne, a nurse, said the men’s lifejackets saved their lives.
“When we got there the boat had sunk and only the bow was visible. There were in shock and hypothermic, but very lucky to be alive,” she said.
The sunken speedboat was raised by the crew of the Grainne Uaile using a crane and was towed ashore.