Efforts are being made to reunite the owners of a mystery 6.4m yacht which washed up on beach in Co Wicklow during the week.
The ghost yacht Katie had no one on board and was first seen in Bray on Saturday, September 21, but drifted out to Kilcoole Beach, just south of Greystones.
The Coast Guard at Greystones was contacted by a member of the public through a 999 call and they in turn contacted Coast Guard authorities in the UK. The gardaí and Wicklow County Council were also notified.
It turns out the Hunter Horizon four-berth yacht was originally found empty at Pensarn in north Wales on Thursday, September 12. It was without its sails, which indicates it had slipped its moorings.
Rhyl Coastguard Rescue Team contacted the owners to arrange to have the vessel collected. Blue tape was placed around the boat but the yacht ended up drifting out to sea again before it could be collected.
It eventually landed on Kilcoole Beach, without its engine or rudder.
A Wicklow County Council spokesperson said: “Wicklow County Council is aware of a small vessel washed up on the beach at Kilcoole. The council has made contact with the owner who is making arrangements to remove the vessel.”
However, returning the yacht to its owners could prove more problematic than first imagined as visitors to Kilcoole Beach on Friday noticed that the boat was no longer at its location and it appears that a combination of Thursday night’s high tides and stormy and windy conditions caused the ‘Katie’ to drift away elsewhere, possibly further down the coast.