sea early on Monday morning.

Mrs. Joane McPhee, mother of Mrs. Susan Rhind, who was picked up by a passing freighter with her husband David and their 22-month-old baby Sean after their 36-foot cutter was holed, said her daughter believed the yacht may have been hit by a container.

But she said the family were none the worse for their ordeal at sea.

She said she had spoken on Monday night to her daughter, who described how she had been on watch at about 9.30 p.m. on Sunday when she felt a huge crash.

Water then poured into the cockpit of their yacht, the Mystic Lady .

"I guess they knew right away it was serious because they sent out the emergency flares immmediately,'' Mrs. McPhee said.

Within one hour, a nearby bulk carrier which spotted the flares, came to their rescue. The yacht was 150 miles southwest of the Island when she foundered.

The boat was still afloat when the ship, the Cypriot-registered Maria Satinas , arrived and the Rhinds were able to motor alongside and climb up its ladder with their baby, Mrs. McPhee said.

She said her daughter had all her credit cards and passport with her and also managed to save their Siamese cat Kato.

"They are very grateful to be alive, but very sad to see all they owned go to the bottom of the ocean,'' she said.

She added: "I had given them all their Christmas presents because it's so difficult to mail them as well as my daughter's birthday present, now they are all gone.'' The family is expected to arrive at Three Rivers in Quebec, Canada, on Friday.

Mr. Rhind's father, who lives in Novia Scotia will meet them, Mrs. McPhee said.

She said her daughter thought they may have hit a container which had fallen off a ship in rough weather.

Mrs. McPhee said she had been against the couple crossing the ocean without any other crew -- and especially with her 22-month-old grandson on board.

But the wife of the late Hon. William McPhee, a former Transport Minister, said she recognised it was her daughter's decision.

"They are a very independent couple,'' she said.

Mr. Rhind and his wife Susan have been living onboard Mystic Lady ,docked alongside Hunters Point in St. George's, for the past few months. They were heading for the Bahamas when the vessel sank.