Wells and Cromer volunteers up all night after Mayday call from yacht crew
At 12.14am on Sunday 5 June Humber Coastguard paged Wells RNLI llfeboat to request a launch to a Mayday call from the 5m yacht Jenny with one person on board which had got into difficulties between Wells and Cromer and was in danger of capsizing.
The volunteer crew were paged just moments later at 12.19am as was the Cromer lifeboat.
Wells All Weather Lifeboat (ALB), the Mersey class Doris M Mann of Ampthill, left the boathouse at 12.37 and proceeded to the low water launch site in Holkham Bay. The lifeboat launched at 1.10am and proceeded toward the casualty which had run aground on the north east side of Blakeney Point.
Cromer RNLI Tamar class lifeboat, Lester, was on scene at 1.20am and by this time the vessel's skipper had left the yacht and had managed to get ashore after some difficulty in the surf which prompted the Coastguard helicopter from Humberside to be scrambled.
Wells lifeboat crew continued toward the casualty and rendezvoused with Cromer lifeboat which was standing by the yacht. At 2.30am it was decided to wait until daylight to see if the stranded yacht could be refloated on the flood tide.
At 4.30am the yacht had refloated and with the assistance of the local Coastguard team Cromer lifeboat took the craft into tow. The tow was then transferred to Wells Lifeboat which proceeded towards the safe port of Wells with the casualty, which now had no steering as this had been damaged in the grounding.
The yacht was safely put on a mooring in Wells harbour at 6.20am and the lifeboat was refuelled and ready again for service at 7.30am.
RNLI media contacts
For further information contact: Peter Rainsford, Chairman and Acting Deputy Press Officer, Wells Lifeboat
Tel: 01328 711463 Mob: 07789 967 255 Email: [email protected]
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.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.