Port Alfred welcomes Papillon

At 15h26 on Friday the 17th of September, NSRI Port Alfred duty crew were activated following a request from the the 38 foot catamaran Papillon for an escort into the safety of the Kowie River.

Port Alfred station commander Juan Pretorius said,” They are sailing from Port St Francis to Maputo and were worried that they would be caught by the storm which was forecast to come through the area late on Friday.”

The crew of two, one from Jeffrey’s Bay and one from Paradise Beach, asked for an escort into the Kowie river where they could safely wait for the bad weather to pass. The Sea Rescue vessels Lotto Challenger and Rescue 11 Alpha met Papillon off Port Alfred and transferred a local sailing expert aboard to act as a pilot for the tricky approach to the Kowie.

“Because Papillon is such a big vessel we asked Clinton Schultz, of Supercat Marine, to guide them in. Normally such big yachts do not come into the river,” said Juan.

Papillon safely entered the Kowie river at 16h29 escorted by Lotto Challenger and will wait out the bad weather in the safety of the river.