Stricken tall ship towed back to dry land

Dozens of teenagers who spent three nights stranded on a stricken tall ship off the Isles of Scilly finally reached dry land today and said they were determined to carry on with their voyage. The 180ft-long Fryderyk Chopin lost its two masts in high winds 90 miles south-west of Scilly with 47 people, including 36 sea cadets aged from 14 to 16, on board. It took rescuers two days and three nights to tow the Polish vessel into the safety of the Fal river. From there the youngsters were taken to shore on lifeboats, leaving the captain and the officers to maintain the ship. After reaching dry land, one 25-year-old crew member said it had been a "terrifying" experience. She said: "It started with the front mast. It's not like a branch of a tree falling which happens very quickly." The lines and rigging meant that the mast fell slowly. "It falls gradually." Speaking to the BBC, the crew member who gave her name as Margaret, added: "What was terrifying was the first night of towing. The boatswains worked really hard to fix all the moving parts – the broken parts – to the column of the mast. That was a lot of hard work. With the waves that all was moving. We were just waiting for the storm to end. It was long and tiring. "It's very good that we are here. The crew is very keen on continuing the voyage. We are in good spirits in spite of the accident." The youngsters are to spend a few days in a youth hostel while the captain and other adult crew members will stay on board and take care of the ship. The teenagers waved and cheered as they reached dry land and were greeted by Polish camera crews and photographers. One 14-year-old said the youngsters had not seen what was happening because they were below deck at the time of the accident. "We saw the broken mast one day after," she said. "Under the deck life went on normally." Asked if the experience had put her off, she replied: "No, of course not. We want to continue with our journey." The Nova Spiro – a large fishing vessel from Newlyn, Cornwall – began a tow operation on Friday night but bad weather meant it was a slow process. Coxswain Peter Hicks, of the RNLI lifeboat St Mary's – which spent 20 hours at the side of the stricken ship on Friday – said: "The ship was rolling heavily in a big swell with all the rigging hanging over the starboard side." The ship is owned by the European School of Law and Administration, a private university in Poland.