Cape Town – A motor boat has been towed to safety in Hout Bay harbour after it apparently hit a whale and started taking on water off Kommetjie in the South Peninsula on Saturday afternoon, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
NSRI Kommetjie and NSRI Hout Bay duty crews were activated following reports of the Simonstown motor boat Vita Beata, with two Simonstown men on board, taking on water and with motor mechanical failure after apparently colliding with a whale about three-quarters of a nautical mile off-shore of Kommetjie, NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said.
The NSRI Kommetjie sea rescue craft Spirit of the Vines and the NSRI Hout Bay sea rescue craft Nadine Gordimer responded, carrying extra water extraction pumps, and the NSRI air sea rescue (ASR) were placed on alert.
"On arrival on the scene three NSRI rescue crew were put aboard the casualty boat and found the casualty boat crew, the owner and his skipper, both very experienced boaters, using all of their water extrication pumps and a hand-held bilge pump to stem the ingress of water and the boat suffering extensive damage and bent propellor shafts.
"They were able to stem the inflow of water using their own equipment and while the water ingress damage was repaired NSRI took up a tow-line and towed them to Hout Bay harbour. The sea rescue craft Tintswalo Phoenix was launched to assist to get the casualty boat to a mooring in Hout Bay.
"The casualty boat crew managed to temporarily repair and stop the inflow of water while under tow and once safely moored in Hout Bay harbour no further assistance was required and the owner will make arrangements to repair his boat."
No sign of the whale was found and its condition remained unknown, Lambinon said.