Ingham Coast Guard: Yacht runs aground on Agnes Reef, Hinchinbrook Island

Marine rescue volunteers have been left aghast after a yachty using only a mobile phone for navigation was left high and dry in treacherous North Queensland waters.

The Ingham Coast Guard confirmed on Monday that it was involved in a protracted and tricky rescue of a yacht and its sole passenger that had run aground on rocks and coral in waters between Hinchinbrook Island and Agnes Island on Saturday. Picture: Supplied

Marine rescue volunteers have been left aghast after a yachty using only a mobile phone for navigation was left high and dry in treacherous Hinchinbrook waters over the weekend.

The Ingham Coast Guard confirmed on Monday that it was involved in a protracted and tricky rescue of a yacht and its sole passenger that had run aground on rocks and coral in waters between Hinchinbrook Island and Agnes Island on Saturday.

Commander Steve Whipps said Agnes Reef was non-navigable, and the prevailing advice was to “give Agnes Island a wide berth at all times”.

“I don’t think this bloke had a decent sounder, and I don’t think he had charts on board, and apparently, he was navigating using his phone, which is not a great thing.”

Commander Whipps, head of the Lucinda-based Coast Guard, said they were called to the yacht in distress about 2pm, with rescue vessel ‘Snow Stafford’ only able to enter the Hinchinbrook Channel at 5pm due to notorious local tides.

Agnes Island off the eastern coastline of Hinchinbrook Island.

He said the yacht had been left marooned completely out of the water but its steel hull had miraculously not been punctured.

“Luckily, it was a cloudless night, the moon was nearly a full so there was plenty of light, they waited till 10pm when the tide was full and then they attached a rope … and they pulled it off the reef and took it out into deeper water,” he said.

“Then they released the tow, and he went on his merry way up to Cairns.”

The Ingham Coast Guard towing a stricken vessel to safety earlier this month. Volunteer crews had been called for emergency assistance about four times during July and about 20 times so far in 2024. Picture: Supplied

The Ingham Coast Guard has been involved in four rescues in July and about 20 in 2024.

Commander Whipps said Saturday’s rescue was out of the ordinary.

“That was about the most unusual one, you don’t often get vessels going high and dry on the rocks like that, it’s a rare thing.”

He praised the volunteers involved in the tricky rescue in the dark.

“If we hadn’t got him out of there, the wind is blowing very strongly today, well where he was would be really rough seas and it would have smashed his boat up on the shore, so we had to get him out of there.”

It was the second rescue for the Ingham Coast Guard in two days, combining with Queensland Ambulance Service in an emergency response to a medical emergency aboard a yacht in waters off Orpheus Island.

Originally published as Ingham Coast Guard: Yacht runs aground on Agnes Reef, Hinchinbrook Island