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‘One person was missing’
A yacht is stuck on a notorious sandbank and breaking up in rough seas. In stormy weather, and with waves coming from every direction, will the lifeboat reach the four casualties in time?
When his pager sounded at 5.17pm, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Helm John Mclellan was cooking dinner for his partner and 12-year-old daughter. Instantly downing tools, he headed to the lifeboat station to launch the inshore lifeboat John Rowntree with fellow crew members Ben Penning, Phil Denby and Dan Stevenson. ‘The report was of a yacht with four people onboard that had run aground, and they were abandoning into their liferaft,’ says John. ‘We knew we had no time to waste.’
It was 10 September. The sea and storm clouds were a menacing shade of grey. Heavy rain lashed the horizon and visibility was poor. While most were heading home from work, an emergency was unfolding at sea. Four young sailors on a voyage from Denmark to the Caribbean had lost engine power and had run aground at Cross Sands, an underwater sandbank several miles off the Norfolk coast – the location of many past shipwrecks. In turbulent water, the yacht was listing on its side and being battered by relentless waves.
Fierce currents and chaotic waves
‘On our way to the location of the yacht, we were getting thrown about on the waves and the spray was soaking us,’ explains John. ‘The sea where we were heading was chaotic – white water everywhere.’
Caister’s independent all-weather lifeboat had also launched. They located the yacht’s liferaft and found it empty, so the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston RNLI crew tried to get closer to the yacht, desperately hoping that the sailors were still onboard.
‘We could see the yacht was fully over on its side and the waves were coming straight over the top of it,’ John says. ‘At that point we couldn’t see anyone onboard, but we liaised with Caister and they had seen two people on the yacht but couldn’t confirm the whereabouts of the other two. We needed to go into the white water to get closer. I asked the crew if, despite the dangers of the water depth and the sea conditions, they were happy to try. They all said yes.’
Because of the sandbank and powerful channels of water running between the sands at different depths, getting closer was near impossible. Fierce currents and waves came from every side, picking up the lifeboat and dropping it down again. The inshore lifeboat (ILB) crew were worried about capsizing, but they were determined to do a headcount because they could only see two people clinging to the yacht. Worryingly, they’d also seen items floating in the sea – lifejackets and clothing. The crew had to check that none of the items being tossed around in the waves was in fact a person.
Breaking into pieces
Once they’d checked the debris, Crew Member Ben Penning suggested they try a slightly different approach to the yacht, to see if they could see the sailors from a different angle. Thanks to John’s skilled helmsmanship, they managed to get a bit closer through the breaking surf and saw a third person.
‘They were huddled together but we still couldn’t make out a fourth person,’ Ben says. ‘One person was missing. We were trying to approach again to get a better look when we spotted the sailors moving just to the right of their yacht, which was now breaking up into pieces. They clambered onto their tender, and the tide swept them closer to us. John put the lifeboat into neutral and we came alongside their water-filled tender. All four of them were there – the fourth person was a woman who we’d struggled to see in the poor conditions.’
Navigator and radio operator Phil Denby managed to grab hold of the casualties. The crew pulled them onboard the ILB, trying to balance out the weight on the lifeboat to avoid capsizing. The sailors were very cold, frightened and in shock. They’d lost everything – their boat, possessions, paperwork.
‘We transferred them onto the Caister all-weather lifeboat because they could warm up better in their wheelhouse,’ says Ben. ‘Then Caister dropped them at our lifeboat station where the paramedics were waiting to check them over.’
Watch the RNLI crew find the sailors and pull them aboard the lifeboat:‘One of the most challenging rescues we’ve been part of’
When the sailors were safely transferred, the feeling of relief among the RNLI crew was huge. Helm John took a moment to high five the crew, congratulating them for how well they’d worked together. For relatively new Crew Member Dan Stevenson, a shout this testing was a first – but he had been calm and confident.
‘It was one of the most challenging rescues most of us have ever been part of, but our training meant we could stay focused, and the two crews pulled together brilliantly,’ says John. ‘The close cooperation with our colleagues at Caister Lifeboat and the Coastguard was key to us being able to bring everyone home safely.'
Ben agrees it was a hugely challenging rescue.
‘I’ve never done a job that far out to sea on the ILB, especially in confused seas and on that sandbank,’ says Ben. ‘If we hadn’t got there in time, one more wave might have sunk their tender because it was already full of water. It was challenging, but I didn’t feel fear. My adrenaline took over. I know John’s a great helm and the other crew members had my back. I know I can rely on the training and the PPE we have – it’s the best, so we felt equipped to do the rescue and save lives.’
For rescues like these, training and kit, funded by kind donations, are vital. ‘I can’t emphasise enough how important the training and equipment is,’ says Ben. ‘We train every Monday night, at sea and on shore. When we’re on shore we spend time maintaining our equipment and lifejackets. It’s like packing your own parachute. You need faith that your kit will save your life if it comes to it. You can’t think that it won’t happen to me, you have to think that it might. We lubricate the zips on our drysuits and make sure everything is watertight. On the ILB you end up getting wet, so my kit is one of the reasons I feel confident – it’s as good quality as you can get.’
A warm welcome
Before the shout was complete, the crew were tasked to locate the liferaft and deflate it, to prevent it going into the shipping lane. Back at the station, after the paramedics had assessed the sailors and said they didn’t need to go to hospital, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston’s volunteers set about giving them a warm welcome. They ordered a pizza delivery for the sailors and gave them hot tea and biscuits in the crew room. But the work wasn’t over for the crew yet. They had to wash down the lifeboat, refuel it and prepare it for the next service – quite a job considering the amount of sand the boat had taken on.
Meanwhile Coxswain Andy Mason, who was shore crew that night, phoned around local hotels trying to find accommodation for the young sailors. ‘Everywhere was fully booked,’ said Andy. ‘But eventually we spoke to a hotel owner from the Caister Lifeboat who put them up, so thankfully the sailors had somewhere to stay. When they were warm and fed, I drove them up to the hotel – they were very grateful and shed a few tears. It was a challenging shout and the crew did a fantastic job, I’m really proud of the guys. All the training paid off and they got the job done as safely and quickly as they could. Hats off to them.’
After an exhausting evening, the volunteers headed home – a job well done. ‘We were all exhausted because we got quite battered out there, but none of us slept well,’ says Ben. ‘I lay there reliving the rescue all night. The four of us had a WhatsApp group so we could chat about it if we wanted to – a rescue like that, in those conditions, stays with you. Thankfully it had a good ending. We’ve got our training, kit and equipment to thank for that.’
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