'Why did you do that you silly bugger?': Sailors release from Iran

9:16 PM Sat 5 Dec 2009 GMT

'Sam Usher welcomed by partner Nicola Drayton and son Noah - photo by Akira Suemori Getty Images' .

That was the question that Oliver Smith's father asked when four of the five Brits who were arrested by Iran for straying into their waters returned to Britain, and behooves all sailors who venture to foreign waters to ensure that their charts contain sufficient information to keep them in friendly waters.

Andrew Pindar, Chairman of Sail Bahrain, which operates the yacht, told The Times that Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher and Luke Porter had 'a high degree of embarrassment' for their 'innocent mistake'. David Bloomer, a journalist based in Bahrain, remained in Bahrain.

He added that the five crew did not have the border marked on their chart and hence did not realise that they were entering Iranian waters. At the time of the incident they were trying to deal with a lack of wind, oil rigs and a damaged propeller.

'We were in their waters but it wasn't marked on the charts that we had,' David Bloomer had admitted previously. 'We were trying to avoid the oilrigs in the area.'

Their yacht, the Kingdom of Bahrain, was approached by two boats manned by the Revolutionary Guard of the Iranian Navy and diverted to the Iranian island of Sirri, where the men were held in a locked mess room. They had been blindfolded in the beginning, but 'as time went by, the guys treated us very well.'

The four returning Brits admitted their were red-faced about the experience.

Oliver Young said: 'We had a bit of a shocker really. We are sorry for everything we've put our families through, and thanks to everyone.'

Luke Porter said, 'It was a learning curve. I am grateful to be back.'

There are many coastlines in the world that sailors approach at their own peril, most of them, but not all, remote from where cruising sailors customarily venture.

Among them are Algeria - although cruising sailors in trouble have had a reasonable welcome there, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, parts of Russia without special permission, the border between the Sudan and Eritrea, parts of the Venezuelan coastline, and, naturally, anywhere near Somalia. No doubt cruising sailors with special experiences could easily add to this list.

by The Times/Nancy Knudsen

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