There were chaotic scenes at Port Douglas' Four Mile Beach on Saturday morning when a mono-hulled yacht ran ashore in strong winds. But this was just the beginning.

Going to the aid of the stricken vessel, the catamaran Indigo soon found itself in need of rescuing as it also battled to fight against 25 knot winds and a dropping tide.

The Port Douglas Coast Guard was called to the scene at around 10.30am as spectators and participants from a Surf Life Saving event looked on in disbelief.

"We got the mono-hull out about 11.30am but the cat was stuck fast," said Jeff Anderson from the Coast Guard.

"It wasn't even moving with the waves so there was no hope of moving it until the tide came in further."

IMAGES BY SONIA LUKIN



Mr Anderson said there was significant damage to both vessels, but Indigo appears to have come out of the situation in worse shape than the boat it was trying to assist.

"Indigo sustained quite a bit of damage. The rudders were folded 90 degrees and were useless, and it had a ruptured hull so it had to get put in the slip that night or it would have sunk."

To add to the chaos, the local parasailing boat almost became another casualty after it tried to help.

"It was an absolute minefield with the surf carnival on and ropes and buoys floating everywhere. They got entangled in some rope and got beached but they managed to sort themselves out."



IMAGES BY SONIA LUKIN