French sailing yacht "Marie Galante" sinks 300 NM from Natal, Brazil

Created by sue. Last modified on 2009-01-20 10:31:10
Countries: Brazil

Crew of two, Jean Claude Thebeauct, 59, and wife Laurence Berthelot, 46 (plus their dog Lewis) were rescued off the coast of Brazil, on Friday 16 January after 17 hours at sea in their liferaft, by the Brazilian Navy.

En-route from the Cape Verdes to Brazil, Marie Galante (13.8m LOA) sank slowly after hitting an unidentified object which holed the hull. The crew don't know what it was they hit, but reported it to be small. The crew had time to inflate their liferaft and grab documents, money and a few clothes.

The Brazilian Navy received an EPIRB signal at 14h00 on Thursday 15 January, locating and rescuing the crew at 05h00 the next day.

Apparently dog Lewis was delighted to reach the Brazilian coast and the port of Natal so he could relieve himself.

Our thanks to Gianni Panconesi for sending noonsite this report.