ADRIFT. Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Dumaguete Station personnel retrieve Tuesday afternoon an unmanned yacht off the waters of the Rizal Boulevard and towed it back to safety. The yacht, owned by a foreigner, was dislodged from its mooring place in Barangay Calindagan in Dumaguete City amid stormy weather. (Photo courtesy of PCG-Dumaguete)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)-Dumaguete Station recovered a yacht drifting off Rizal Boulevard coming from Barangay Calindagan here amid bad weather on Tuesday afternoon.
In phone interview, (PCG)-Dumaguete commander, Lt. Senior Grade Donna Liza Duran-Ramacho, said at around 2:20 p.m. they launched their aluminum boat from Silliman Beach in Barangay Bantayan to intercept the unmanned yacht.
Initial investigation showed that the owner/skipper of the 13-meter long yacht, a certain Bryan Coianiz, told the PCG that he dropped anchor off the coast of Calindagan, where he was staying at a beach house.
This afternoon, Coianiz saw that the vessel was dislodged from its mooring place due to strong winds and big waves, causing it to drift northward toward the boulevard, Ramacho said.
Coianiz joined the Coast Guard in retrieving the yacht, which he boarded as soon as they got near it, and steered the vessel as it was being towed back by the Coast Guard boat to Calindagan, Ramacho added.
She said they had to retrieve the yacht to avoid a collision with a bigger vessel in the area.
The yacht also posed a hazard to other vessels as its location is where vessels ply to and from Dumaguete, she said.
She said she told Coianiz that Calindagan is not a good docking area for the yacht, especially with the current stormy weather and a gale warning still up over Dumaguete and nearby areas.
The foreigner told the Coast Guard that he had come from Palawan and was staying overnight in Calindagan before going to Cebu, she added. (PNA)
