Hastings was a welcome port of call last night for a skipper of a stricken yacht, plucked to safety by water police.
The drama began to unfold at about 3pm yesterday an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was activated on an 8 metre yacht which was having difficulty in 5 metre swells.
The Latrobe Valley Air Ambulance (HEMS2) and a fixed wing aircraft were dispatched to locate the stricken vessel and found it approximately 29 nautical miles off Wonthaggi.
They were unable to winch the skipper, a man in his 60s from Geelong, from the yacht and called in the water police.
A crew from Williamstown was dispatched and they fought 5 metre swells, near freezing temperatures and the blackest of nights to reach the stricken vessel about 11.20pm.
The skipper was brought onto the water police craft and transported to Hastings.
Police were unable to secure the yacht which was left adrift and last seen 40 nautical miles off the coast and heading south.
