Sea rescue mission saves runaway beach kiosk

Thursday 04 January 2018

A Gorey beach kiosk that blew out to sea in yesterday’s extreme winds has been rescued – 1.5miles north of Bouley Bay.

The Gorey Watersports concession stand, which takes the form of a 20-foot shipping container, fell victim to the Force 10 gales of Storm Eleanor in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

By the afternoon, it was spotted floating in the direction of St Catherine, but conditions were too treacherous to attempt to retrieve it.

Following a “real team effort” operation involving an anchored ship, members of the public and the Marine Section Crew, who kept the Coastguard updated on its position, however, the container was finally rescued last night.

Pictured: The concession stand floating away yesterday morning. (The Hungry Whale/Gary Burwood)

With "challenging" sea conditions, things were not easy for the rescue team.

Despite spotters’ best efforts, the container often disappeared from view in rain showers and sea spray, but the Coastguard was fortunately able to track the container using specialist SARIS tracking technology to “fill the gaps”.

By that point, the concession stand had reached as far as Bouley Bay, floating 1.5miles north of the beach. 

Pictured: The SARIS modelling system, which greatly assisted the Duke in locating the floating kiosk. (Ports of Jersey)

The Duke of Normandy tug nonetheless battled the stormy sea and successfully tracked down the runaway container. It was later towed to St Catherine’s Bay, where it was lifted onboard before returning to St Helier. 

“Good work to recover what was a notable hazard to navigation,” the Coastguard commented.