Man saves dog from drowning, then wife

East London - A couple and their dog are recovering after swimming to safety when their yacht ran aground near the East London coast on Sunday.

Graham Anley,his wife Cheryl and their 9-year-old Jack Russell Rosie were sailing from East London to Madagascar for a holiday when their yacht hit a reef in the early hours of Sunday morning, the National Sea Rescue Institute’s Geoff McGregor said.

Anley and the dog swam to shore before returning for his wife whose safety line had snagged on the steering gear.

The Jack Russell was wearing a specially tailored dog life-jacket which has its own emergency strobe light attached to it.

Once safely ashore, the couple alerted the NSRI.

When a rescue helicopter was dispatched, the couple and Rosie were found safely ashore and uninjured. However, the couple’s yacht, called The Boundless, was severely damaged.

Anley is himself a volunteer for the NSRI. He said that after 22 years as a volunteer it is "humbling to have the shoe on the other foot and need to be rescued".