Three people are waiting to be rescued from a desert island off the Gascoyne Coast after their boat had engine trouble.

The boat ran into a sandbar after the the anchor rope snapped, narrowly avoiding drifting into rocks, off the coast of Carnarvon.

Two men and a woman managed to make it safely to Bernier Island.

Carnarvon Volunteer Sea Rescue Group commander Noel Gaitskell said crews attempted to rescue them last night but were hampered by the weather conditions.

“We sent the boys over with the boat to try and get them off last night, a big squall went through and they couldn’t get them off,” he said.

“We made phone contact with them and they were going to sleep on the beach.”

A rescue crew is heading out this morning to retrieve the castaways.

“A crew with a bigger boat is going over this morning to go and get them and the yacht.”

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(Photo: Marine Rescue Carnarvon/ Facebook.)