On Wednesday (6 July) and Thursday evening (7 July) NSRI Jeffreys Bay volunteer duty crew were dispatched to search the shoreline following reports of red distress flares seen by eye-witnesses off-shore of Jeffreys Bay in the early evening on both occasions.
An extensive search on both nights has revealed no sign of any persons or craft in any difficulty and there are no reports of any persons or craft overdue or missing.
The origin of the flares and the reasons for the flares being activated remains unknown and the police have been informed.
On Thursday (7 July) NSRI St Francis Bay and NSRI Jeffreys Bay volunteers were dispatched to the Lynx Golf Course to stand-by as safety crew for the Fire and Rescue Services who began pumping water, collected during recent heavy rains, and threatening to break its banks and flood the town.
During pumping water efforts (attempting to pump water towards and into the Sand River) the bank broke causing flooding water through most roadways in St Francis Bay town cutting the town off from mainland (effectively creating an Island) and washing away a large section of the N2 motorway causing the town to be barely accessible.
NSRI volunteers, Fire and Rescue Services and Police assisted, until late last night to assist people to reach their destinations in either direction, in and out of town as well as delivering medical supplies to people urgently requiring medicines.
No injuries were reported.
On Friday 8 July the water levels subsided considerably and efforts to repair the roadway have begun.
Also on Friday 8 July at approximately midday NSRI St Francis Bay and NSRI Oyster Bay volunteers responded to Eerste Rivier, near St Francis Bay, where a yacht was reported to have run aground.
On arrival on-scene the yacht Gulliver (which was abandoned at sea in a sea rescue operation following her 4 crew being rescued off-shore of Cape Infanta near Witsand on 15th June) was found washed up on rocks on the shores of a farm in Eerste Rivier.
The yacht has been missing at sea since the rescue of her crew.
The yacht has been found hard aground, mostly broken up with extensive damage and NSRI St Francis Bay and NSRI Oyster Bay volunteers are salvaging as much as possible from the yacht on behalf of the owner.
Police and the owners have been informed.
