TWO New Zealanders were rescued after the yacht they were sailing in hit a reef and sank off Savusavu yesterday.
Last night, a 59-year old man from Great Barrier Island and a 53-year old woman from Tauranga were recovering in Savusavu after their ordeal close to Sau Bay.
Police north spokesman Constable Luke Rawalai said the 14-metre yacht, Touche, hit the reef and sank.
The New Zealand-registered yacht was 26 nautical miles east of Savusavu harbour, close to the entrance of Somosomo Strait, when the incident happened.
The owner of Sau Bay Resort, Nigel Douglas, was monitoring the radio when he heard the distress call from the Touche at around midday.
His wife, Carol Douglas, said he and a resort guest, Kyle Rowland, boarded a boat and rushed to the yacht, which was about 24 kilometres from the resort.
We couldnt see it from where we were at because were situated around the corner of the bay but my husband and Kyle arrived there 15 minutes after hearing the distress call and found the yacht in bad shape after hitting the reef, she said.
They managed to salvage some of their important documents before the yacht broke up. It was pretty rough out there and it was difficult to salvage anything else.
Mrs Douglas said the couple were safe and well.
Fortunately theyre OK. They were in the water for some time and suffered from hyperthermia and were in shock, she said.
They had a hot shower when they got here and a hot cup of tea and are now staying here.
New Zealands Rescue Co-ordination Centre said it alerted Fijian authorities after the sailors activated their emergency position-indicating radio beacon before abandoning the yacht.