One 'idiot moment' leaves retired yachties destitute

The yacht P. Lee Can, ran aground at Ruakaka. An attempt to refloat the boat failed this morning. Photo / Dan Sloane

Offers of a yacht to borrow, a tug out to shore and hot meals were among the gestures of support offered to the couple whose yacht home beached in Northland's Ruakaka.

Retired sailor Geoff Phillips, 77, said he was "blown away" by the people's generosity since the news got out he and his wife Aylin had lost most of their possessions when their yacht grounded on Saturday morning.

"It's just marvellous ... people have taken us into their homes and fed us, everybody is trying to help."

After several failed attempts to refloat the yacht, it was likely to be broken up on the spot and taken to the junkyard.

Mr Phillips said the vessel was more than just a yacht - it was their home with all their personal belongings inside. Photo / Dan Sloane

Mr Phillips said there was no shortage of offers to help pull the boat back out the sea, but because of damage to the hull there was no guarantee it would stay afloat.

"It breaks our heart, but we have now been advised we should break her up on the beach ... this will be safer for everybody," he said. "The cost to float her could be $20k to $40k ... then repairs and a refit."

Mr Phillips expected the ship would be broken up within the next couple of days.

"It was just an idiot moment," he said of the moment the yacht ran aground.

Mr Phillips had been trying to help his wife who was in a dinghy a little closer to shore, but got stuck in the shallower water.

"She's a write-off, we've got nothing."

Mr Phillips said the vessel was more than just a yacht -- it was their home with all their personal belongings inside.

The experienced sailor had set out from Australia in 2001 with a plan to sail around the world, but after a tour around New Zealand he decided to make himself at home.

"We have been living on the boat for the past five or six years, it's been a wonderful lifestyle.

"It was the most comfortable place that we'd filled with our personal belongings ... it was our baby, our home."

The couple had third party insurance and their contents were not covered, meaning they'd have to start again from scratch.

"She's going to have to be scrapped," he said. "We now need to find a home and just chill and reassess and think about where to next."

But Mr Phillips said despite having lost virtually everything except for the clothes on their backs, they were grateful to be alive.

He said the yacht's grounding had made him realise now might be the time to make a new home on dry ground.

"With this drama on the water I felt like a cripple, because of my bad hip," he said. "So I have to accept I'm not as young as I once was and it might be time to set up on land."