Four crew members had to be evacuated on Friday after their sailing boat grounded in St George’s Harbour.

This was one of a “slew of incidents” caused by the sudden onset of strong winds that saw gusts of 67 knots recorded at Fort George, according to the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre,

“Several vessels were reported to be dragging anchor, taking on water, or suffering from steering or propulsion issues,” it stated. “Some of the more serious incidents involved a vessel grounding in St George’s Harbour with the need for four crew to be evacuated, a local tour operator with a fouled propeller, and sailing vessels on final approach to the island battling increased winds and needing a tow into the harbour.”

According to the statement, visiting yachts Tango and Mahe 3 suffered disabled engines on their final approach to the island and a local contractor was dispatched to assist vessels.

Meanwhile, in Convict Bay, visiting SV Morton and SV Escondala reported issues with a fouled propeller and dragging anchor, while SV Blue Pigeon Too wound up high and dry on the shallow reefs east of Brook’s Island. Fisheries vessel Sentinel was tasked to evacuate all four crew ashore until the weather abated. The vessel was successfully refloated a few days later by a local marine contractor.

At Ordnance Island, one of the large visiting yachts, SV Ree, forced back against its moorings lines and threatened to encroach on other yachts berthed alongside.

And another motor yacht on Penno’s Wharf was blown hard against the dock face as crews struggled with mooring lines.

Meanwhile, two passengers were injured on a local tour boat that was disabled northwest of Grey’s Bridge in the bad weather conditions.

According to the statement, one passenger had broken a finger and was possibly going into shock.

“The Marine Police attended to vessel taking two injured persons ashore, with the tour boat confirming safe arrival in Dockyard a while later.”

Another small boat, Lazy Boy, was reported taking on water near the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club in Hamilton Harbour. Marine Police were dispatched and successfully pumped the boat dry.

“Meanwhile, an island barge/floating dock broke free from the beach on the south side of White’s Island, posing a danger to vessels moored in area. The barge was successfully recovered and secured by a local marine contractor.”

In Harrington Sound, the vessel Start Me Up was sighted down by the stern with the risk of going under. The owner was contacted and attended to the vessel.

Bermuda Radio was also made aware that fishing boat Secret Place was holed and remains partially submerged in Bailey’s Bay.

Because of potential pollution from diesel fuel, a team from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources attended on Saturday to deploy a pollution containment boom.

The statement added that vessel owners are working on having the vessel recovered and repaired.