Our dream is far from sunk, say shipwreck Scots
A SCOTS sailor whose family narrowly escaped with their lives after they were shipwrecked has insisted they will continue on their round-theworld voyage.
Bobby Cooper, wife Cheryl and their two children were marooned in the South Pacific last week when their yacht hit a coral reef.
The vessel was badly damaged and it was only by chance a vessel sheltering nearby was able to rescue them.
But Mr Cooper, 51, is determined his family will continue on their adventure. He said: ‘We feel stronger than ever to have survived this as a family. We intend to carry on. Our adventure is only just beginning.’
Mr Cooper, a keen sailor who was raised in Stirling, lived in Majorca with wife Cheryl, 37, and their children Lauren, 13, and Robbie, ten, before they sold their house to buy their £275,000 catamaran.
Since May last year they have sailed around the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and around the Galapagos Islands.
But last Sunday, while sailing from the Cook Islands to Tonga, they ran into a storm and their boat, the Avanti, ran aground.
Beveridge Reef, 130 miles from the nearest land, failed to show it up on their navigation system.
Mr Cooper told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I had no idea the reef was there. I knew we’d hit something and were taking on water. We were ready to abandon ship.’
But after almost an hour spent in terror, lashed by waves, a whale research ship picked up their Mayday signal.
Mrs Cooper said: ‘I heard this voice on the radio “we can see you, you’re in the lagoon”.’
The family were rescued and are now on the island of Niue, 1,500 miles north east of New Zealand.
The boat will either be salvaged or scrapped and, if it cannot be repaired, Mr Cooper will build or buy a new one. Whatever the outcome, the Coopers are determined to stay afloat.