Errant Fishing Boat Left High and Dry ; A Fishing Boat Was Left High and Dry After It Ran Aground on a Desolate Beach Yesterday.

A fishing boat was left high and dry after it ran aground on a desolate beach yesterday.

The 50ft vessel Bruno was on passage from Bideford in North Devon when it broke loose from its overnight moorings off the South Wales coast.

Coastguards coordinated a rescue mission to bring the four crewmen safely ashore but by morning the Bruno cut a lonely figure, stranded about 50 metres from the sea.

A spokesman for Swansea Coastguard said: “It is not unknown to have boats stranded on the beach here, hopefully we can refloat it on Wednesday.”

The crew of the Bruno, skippered by Donald MacKenzie, had been collecting whelks in the Bristol Channel off Rhossili beach, near the Gower peninsula.

She had anchored in sheltered water to the West of Worm’s Head but during the night she slipped her anchor and the high tide carried her on to the beach.

At 2.20am the crew issued a mayday call and coastguards launched a lifeboat. The spokesman said: “The crew were taken safely off but the boat was stuck.”

Yesterday morning coastguards visited the boat, which was still carrying her cargo of whelks, to assess whether she could be refloated. At 2.50pm two lifeboats and two other vessels tried to get her back into the water.

“They managed to turn her but the tide was not high enough to get her moving again,” the spokesman said.

“High tide on Wednesday is half a metre higher so they will try again and hopefully have more luck.”

The Bruno spent the night in the company of a less fortunate stray. A few hundred meters away lies the wreck of the Helvetia, which ran aground and was abandoned in 1887.

(c) 2008 Western Morning News, The Plymouth (UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.