A sailor has come forward after his boat was wrecked on the Aberaeron harbour construction works.

The sailing yacht ran aground on hidden rocks during the early phases of Aberaeron harbour’s coastal defences' construction in June 2024.

The buoys signalling the rocks' location were underwater at the time he ran aground.

The council itself admitted the buoys weren't correctly placed, but took no responsibility for the wreck, which left Martin Vincent over £20,000 out of pocket.

Martin Vincent, a retired charity director, who was returning from several months away from the harbour, said: “I entered the harbour at high tide and struck rock.

“I called the RNLI, and in the interim, the tide started to drop, and buoys started to appear, indicating the line of the rock.

“The buoys sat below the surface of the water at high tide, which is obscenely poor practice.”

One starboard lateral marker buoy indicating the route to follow into the harbour had also not been removed despite construction works, which Martin read that day as “marking safe passage into the harbour”.

The result was a wrecked boat - the Sadler 29-foot sailing yacht, Vannerhawk, was unsalvageable after hitting underwater rocks “the size of cars”.

The rudder was “smashed”, skeg ripped off, propeller and keels damaged and hull holed in multiple places.

When Martin flagged the bad practice that had caused his boat wreck to the harbour authority Ceredigion County Council, corporate lead officer Rhodri Llwyd admitted in a lettered response that “at the time of the incident, the positions of the marks were not in the consented positions, however all the foul grounds remained within the area publicised in Local Notice to Mariners [online and on the wall of the harbourmasters office].”

The council claimed no responsibility for the incorrectly placed buoys, despite the coastal defence scheme being a council project, paid for in part by them.

Multiple harbour users confirmed the buoys were incorrectly placed at the time, with no marked safe route into the harbour, branding Ceredigion “negligent” and “incompetent”.

“To add insult to injury,” as Martin put it, he was then charged a £500 summer mooring fee by the council as his ship sat wrecked on the side of the harbour.

Despite appealing that the only reason he was in the harbour was due to “inadequately marked rocks on the north side of the entrance”, he felt forced to pay.

He had intended to use the visitor's berth in the harbour for two nights on his return from a trip to Scotland.

The sailor of 10 years from Herefordshire said: “That’s the level of disinterest and rudeness I got from the council.”

By contrast, he described the construction company, BAM, as “really reasonable”.

When he approached BAM, the workers helped him in salvaging the boat onto the harbourside and agreed to cover £2,500 of his losses, but did not admit fault.

After “getting nowhere” with the council, he claimed for the loss of his boat with his insurers, who accepted his claim of £19,000.

The 69-year-old said: “When the RNLI came out, one of the team said, ‘We’ve been waiting for this to happen, we’re really sorry it’s you’.

“They were so concerned by the poor marking during the works that they’d undertaken training exercises just outside of Aberaeron because there was such a danger of something happening.”

Two lifeboats from New Quay RNLI came to Martin’s aid that day.

Brett Stones, helm of New Quay RNLI’s inshore lifeboat, said: “We arrived on scene and found the large sailing boat stuck on the rocks at the entrance of the harbour.

“We were able to evacuate the lone sailor and took them ashore to meet our colleagues from New Quay Coastguard.

“However, the yacht was badly damaged and stuck on the rocks, so we couldn't move it.

“Our all-weather lifeboat stood by in case assistance was needed, but we were stood down and returned to station.”

Responding to the incident, a BAM spokesperson said: “ A Notice to Mariners was in place to inform them of potential hazards in the area.

“Despite these measures, we regret the damage caused to Martin Vincent’s sailing boat.

“We understand this matter is now in the hands of Ceredigion County Council’s insurance department, and that they have been in contact with Mr Vincent’s insurers.”

Ceredigion County Council did not respond to any of the Cambrian News’ questions, take responsibility for the incident, or respond regarding the council’s charging Martin a whole summer's mooring fee.

Instead, a Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “The council has referred the matter to its insurers and understands that they have been in direct contact with Mr Vincent's insurers.”

It comes as ongoing controversy plagues the new breakwater that Martin ran aground on.

Harbour users have been up in arms since the work was completed in October 2025, as the new south-facing breakwater has caused significant build-up in the newly narrowed harbour entrance, making the entrance “impassable” to all but dinghies.

Earlier this month, the council said it would dredge the silt and shingle build-up that is causing havoc to harbour users within the next few months.

This week, the council admitted it did not know how much it would cost to dredge the channel or how often the dredging would be needed due to the prevailing south-north longshore drift.

In a comment made to the Cambrian News, a spokesperson said: “We don't have an estimated cost at this time, but the council does regularly undertake and fund dredging activity across the harbour estate within Ceredigion to maintain navigation within those harbours for which it has responsibility.

“Movement of shingle was expected following the additional 7,000m³ of material which has been placed on South Beach during the construction works, and this work is intended to be programmed to be undertaken in the next 2-3 months.”

During the construction works, the seabed was excavated in the area that would form the breakwater, as well as excavation under the new rock revetments along South Beach.

South Beach was then replenished with shingle taken from these two excavation sites.

The council has previously stated that the seabed around the new structures would need time to settle following completion, and that this movement of shingle was anticipated at design stage.

The Cambrian News and Aberaeron’s beleaguered harbour scheme feature in this year’s Wardens’ pantomime at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Robin Hood is on until Saturday, 24 January and, as always, contains lots of local references.

The Cambrian News’ very own Julie McNicholls Vale plays Miss Much, who delivers the news that the Sheriff of Nottingham has declared Robin a traitor and banished him from Nottingham.

When asked if she is reporting fake news, Miss Much proudly produces a copy of the Cambrian News, stating that Robin’s banishment is in the newspaper's headline, “and the Cambrian News always tells the truth!”

Later on in the show, when the Merry Men react to a magic trick, Friar Tuck, played by Ioan Guile states it was “as disappointing as the Aberaeron Harbour Scheme”, which has elicited lots of laughs from the audience since the pantomime opened on 7 January.