O No! She was floating yesterday!
That old joke of yachties 'O well she's still there!' on arrival back at a moored yacht reflects a worry all yacht owners have, but was borne out in reality for one Macleay River sailor yesterday. 
'The small dread of most boat owners'
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He received a rude shock yesterday morning when NSW Maritime rang to tell him his boat had sunk and just the masts were visible above the water.
The vessel was moored with around six other yachts near the mouth of the river and sank sometime during the night.
Rod McDonagh, of New South Wales Maritime, said he received a phone call from Coffs Harbour Water Police at around 7am, reporting a sunken vessel near South West Rocks and had gone out to inspect the stricken yacht shortly after.
"It was still afloat last night," Mr McDonagh said.
"We've been out to have a look at it," Mr McDonagh said yesterday morning, "and at this stage it is posing no problem to other vessels and there appear to be no environmental threats."
The blue-hulled, 12-metre long yacht was sitting in about six metres of water.
Mr McDonagh said it was now up to the owner to determine how his boat would be refloated.
"It's his responsibility to refloat it. We've spoken to him and he's in the process of organising it," Mr Mc-Donagh said.
"We'll continue to monitor the situation, and when he does try to refloat it we'll make sure there are no threats to other vessels or any environmental issues, and then we'll have another chat to him and see what he proposes to do with it."
by Luke Horton, Macleay Argus/Sail-World 
nedlands, WA
