Early Monday morning, the CROSS alerted the SNSM for an EPIRB distress beacon transmitting between Pinel and Tintamarre.
Story: “99% risk that it is still a“ false alarm ”(we have had dozens since Cyclone IRMA) but we cannot help but go there; in case it is the remaining 1% and therefore a real distress…
At 7 am, we are on board; Since we are only 3 rescuers available and it is not far away, we decide to take the RESCUE STAR, faster and more maneuverable than the SNS 269 speedboat which the SNSM of St Barth has lent us for 2 months.
We leave the Fort Louis Marina then we are on the GPS point transmitted by the CROSS which specifies that it is a beacon registered under the name of BROADREACH, white sailboat of 50 feet ...
Half an hour later we are in the area, but no sailboat is in sight.
VHF communication with OCEANA which is on its way from St. Barth towards Marigot but which reports having seen nothing alarming during its crossing.
The Hirundo, who had passed earlier, had seen nothing either.
At the request of the CROSS we go to Tintamarre; but there are no boats at anchor or around.
The Gendarmerie helicopter flies over the area several times… RAS!
Shortly after 8 am, the CROSS gives us freedom to maneuver; so we head back to Marigot.
At 8:15 am we hear a call to the VHF: the LUNA SEA, a 13m sailboat, has just broken down in Marigot Bay near the Sandy Ground bridge.
It has only a small anchor and not a lot of chain; he is not sure that it fits with the swell in the bay and he requests assistance because he is alone on board.
At 8:33 am, we are by his side and a trailer has passed. We tow it for 500 m; just story to put it in safety closer to the entrance of the Fort Louis Marina, so that he can repair his engine there. This sailor had planned to pass by the Sandy Ground bridge to enter the lagoon; he was unaware that the bridge was no longer working from IRMA; bad news for him when he was told that he had to go around the Lowlands and return by the Simpson Bay channel, once his engine repaired.
End of our mission! "
We welcome the commitment, day and night, of the rescuers of the SNSM of Saint-Martin, always ready to assist navigators in difficulty here or elsewhere._AF
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