Bermuda's treacherous reef system, famous for wrecking ships, nearly claimed another victim over the weekend.

A sailor, travelling solo to Bermuda, became stuck approximately four miles off Tynes Bay when the keel of his sailboat struck one of the North Shore's deceptively shallow reefs.

Luckily for the sailor, two good Samaritans in nearby boats came to his assistance. Using the power of their engines and several tow ropes they were able to work together to safely manoeuvre the sailboat free of the reef.

No one was injured in the near-shipwreck and the boat escaped with only minor damage. The incident was not reported to the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre or the Marine Police.

In other maritime news, Bermudians may have been noticing lower than normal tides recently. According to Ken Smith, Meteorologist with the Bermuda Weather Service, the abnormally low tides are a result of cold eddies currently circling the Island.

According to Mr. Smith a cold eddy is a colder than average underwater current. Because water constricts when it is cold, the tides have been an average of 0.7 feet to one foot lower than average.