Two friends gave up their Saturday morning to remove a hazardous wreck from a popular beauty spot.

Martijn Dijkstra and Chris Fortnum raised the wreck of the sailing boat Cloud using chain hoists from Paradise Lakes to prevent the chance of a maritime accident. The 28ft-long vessel was sunk during Hurricane Nicole in October 2016 and had been left with the mast sticking out above the surface of the sea.

“It was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision,” said Mr Fortnum, who works as the golf course superintendent at Turtle Hill.

“We were just having a coffee in the morning and we felt that by removing it we would be making that channel through Paradise Lakes a little bit safer.

“There seems to be far too many boats just abandoned in Bermuda and we wanted to do our bit.”

Mr Dijkstra, who owns his own boat, spoke with the owner of the abandoned vessel and on Saturday morning he and Mr Fortnum set off for Paradise Lakes to remove the 12,500lbs wreck.

Mr Fortnum added: “The straps were secured at the bow and stern, and we used chain hoists to gradually raise the wreck to the surface.

“Once the hatches were above sea level we used an electric pump powered by a portable generator to pump the rest of the water out of the hull.

“Once enough water was pumped out Martijn located the leaks and made temporary repairs. I was surprised at how easily we were able to raise her.”

The owner of the boat has since collected some belongings from the vessel, but for now the wreck is secured alongside Mr Dijkstra’s boat.

“We’re not sure what to do with it now to be honest, the most important thing is it is out of harms way,” Mr Fortnum said.

“It could be a project for someone with an interest in boats, or maybe it will be taken out to sea and sunk.”