Skiboat capsizes in cold Cape waters

Marine rangers have rescued two crew members of a skiboat that capsized 15 metres offshore in the cold waters of Cape Point. Just after 2pm, the Table Mountain National Park rangers saw a red distress flare fired offshore in the direction of Oliphantsbospunt in Simon's Town.

When they reached the boat, they found a man and a woman clinging to the upturned hull of the capsized skiboat.

A third crew member had made it to the beach.

The Marine Rangers brought the two in the sea to the beach, where all three were treated for mild hypothermia. Other than a 25-knot northwesterly wind, the crew had to cope with three-metre swells and a sea temperature of 9°C.

"I don't believe the lady knew how to swim, so had the rangers not been there the circumstances may have been much more serious," said Darren Zimmerman, the station commander for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) at Simon's Town.

The crew were skipper Moegammat Raven, 32, Arthur Vanstaden, 20, and Delia Francke, 38.

Francke was taken to the False Bay Hospital in Fish Hoek for treatment for hypothermia. The two men were taken home.

Francke was in a stable condition and was to stay in hospital overnight.

The five-metre skiboat, Old Beggar, was being used for crayfishing.

According to one account, soon after the crew made it out to sea, the skiboat began to sink. Before the crew could make it back to shore, the boat capsized.

It was also possible that the boat had been hit by a wave and capsized, said NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon.

Menskop Point, where the boat capsized, is a well-known surfing locale famous for its underwater reef which causes waves to peak a certain distance from shore.

The owner hopes to salvage the craft, which was lying just off Menskop Point on Thursday night.

Source: www.iol.co.za