Both Poole lifeboats launch to boat on fire

At just after 18.30pm (July 16) a ‘Mayday Mayday Mayday’ call came through from a 31ft Yacht that reported smoke coming from its engine room. The next call came through that ‘’ he could see flames and that they were abandoning ship’.
The stricken vessel had two people on-board and was in the Swash Channel which is the main Channel outside the entrance of Poole Harbour on the way to Old Harry rocks.

At 18.40pm both lifeboats launched, Poole Inshore lifeboat was on scene within 8 minutes, they found that the two people had been picked up by a passing motor boat and were safe and okay, the ‘Condor Vitesse’ had been coming into Port and was also launching its rescue boat, responding to the Mayday.

There was a lot of vessels in the vicinity so the lifeboat crew moved vessels away, securing the area around the burning boat, cordoning it off. They transferred the casualties from the motor boat on board the lifeboat, they assessed the situation, establishing how much fuel was on-board and if there were any gas bottles or anything else flammable.

The inshore Lifeboat stood by as a guard vessel, reassuring the casualties on board, it was then decided to transfer them onto to the ‘Vanguard’, the pilot boat, who took them back to Poole Yacht club.

The crew were happy that the fire was out, they gathered up the mast and the rigging, securing it all to the side of the boat then a tow was set up and the vessel was brought back to Poole Yacht club where the Fire Brigade were standing by to check the vessel over.

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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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