Moelfre RNLI volunteers pluck man from the water

Volunteer crew at the station raised the alarm at 1:20pm when they witness a small open fishing boat capsize and throw its three occupants into the water 400 meters off the lifeboat station. The vessel continued under its own power to steer in circles around the three men as they struggled to swim to safety in the 25-30 knot winds.

The Inshore lifeboat Enfys with Helm Dwynwen Parry and Vince Jones were on the water within minutes and found two men wearing lifejackets being rescues by a local fishing vessel. The third man in his sixties from the Warrington area was found clinging to a mooring buoy without a lifejacket 300 meters off the shore.

The man was quickly pulled from the water and his condition assessed. All three men were taken back to the lifeboat station to await the arrival of ambulance paramedics. All three men were visibly shaken and cold, but uninjured. Their vessel later collided with rocks as it circled out of control. Once the men had been checked out by paramedics, Moelfre’s inshore lifeboat recovered the vessel and towed it to the safety off Traeth Bychan beach.

On-route to the beach the inshore lifeboat was diverted to second report of a person in the water with a capsized sailing dinghy. Upon arrival the vessel was assisted by a sailing safety vessel and al persona safe and well.  

Once back at the lifeboat station the inshore lifeboat was tasked for the third time to reports of an 11 year old boy missing at Benllech beach. The boy had not been seen for over two hours after he was seen playing on the north end of the Popular Anglesey beach. Once on-scene, the lifeboat crew tasked two other leisure vessels to assist in a multi-ship search along the shore line. After 15 minutes of searching the Mobile Coastguard unit from Moelfre located the boy inland, all units were stood down and the lifeboat returned to station.

RNLI Moelfre lifeboat Helm Vince Jones said –

‘The 3 men thrown in the water are lucky to be alive and completely uninjured. We saw their boat circling close to them and imagined the worst. Fortunately by the time we had launched the strong winds had blown it clear of them. A local fishing boat managed to recue two of the 3 men from the water but the third was clinging to a mooring boy with no lifejacket. He was exhausted and had to be lifted into the lifeboat. The boat’s engine had an emergency kill cord but it had somehow come detached from the person driving the boat when it capsized. Someone was watching over these guys today.’

This rescue is one of many this week for the volunteer crew at Moelfre who have launched to 10 separate incidents.

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.

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