during yesterday's horrendous weather conditions.

Last night captain of the Corona , Mr. Curtis Linnell relived the nightmare battle to get his boat back to dock.

During the drama the Corona , and its crew of three, was battered by high seas and strong winds and lost its wheelhouse during one particularly severe buffeting.

And Mr. Linnell said that the boat only just escaped sinking on two occasions during the ordeal.

The Corona , owned by Gringley Construction, had been laying pipes off Tyne's Bay in calmer seas. The pipes are to pump water into the incinerator, for cooling purposes, when it is finally operational.

Said Mr. Linnell: "I knew the bad weather was coming but I thought it was going to be later in the afternoon. We sailed out from Sandys to the bay to start work.

"The weather just started getting worse and worse and we were having problems with seas crashing against the boat.

"The boat was almost breached twice and all the crew were wearing safety gear in case of an emergency.'' Realising he could not get back to his dock he turned the boat against the seas and headed towards Dockyard. But he said the waves seemed to be getting bigger and the winds even stronger.

"We were facing some pretty big seas. Waves broke open the door of the front cabin and we started taking on water.

"The wheelhouse was torn off by a combination of the wind and the waves that were hitting the boat.'' But the crew were even closer to greater danger than they thought and Mr.

Linnell said that he could see the water spout about 100 feet from the boat, although he was too busy to estimate its size.

The three sailors finally managed to get the Corona into Dockyard with little further damage and without suffering injury. The captain was full of praise for his crew. "They did a brilliant job,'' he said.

Mr. Linnell said the boat was still fully operational and, weather permitting, it would continue its pipe laying operation today.

SHOCK WAVES -- A distraught Mr. Curtis Linnell surveys the damage on his boat Corona which was severely battered by yesterday's storms.