A busy Saturday for the volunteers at Poole Lifeboat Station
Poole Inshore lifeboat was on exercise Saturday morning (May 7) they had been out in Poole Bay and were heading back to station just before midday, they heard communications over the radio that a vessel had gone aground on Stone Island.
A 32ft Yacht with 7 people onboard were heading out of Poole Harbour when they found the edge of the notorious sandbank and had gone aground, coming to rest as the tide was ebbing away, the crew headed back , responding to the vessel, their training exercise became very real.
The predicament was if the vessel had been left it would have gone on its side and would have been precariously sat on the island high and dry till about 9pm.
As time was at the essence, with the tide flowing away , the crew decided to attempt two tows, the first to turn the vessel so that it would lean the right way and the second to nudge it so that it may re-float, fortunately for the stricken vessel the two tows were successful. The vessel was checked for any ingress. It seemed that all was well, and the crew were happy for it to continue on its way.
Later in the afternoon the inshore lifeboat was tasked again to another vessel with a fouled prop, off Durley Chine, when they arrived on scene, the motorboat with one person onboard had managed to free the prop and was happy to continue on its way the lifeboat returned back to station and was ready for service by 15:30pm.
As the fair weather set for and another bank holiday on the horizon, Poole lifeboat volunteer helmsman Gavin McGuinness would like to remind sea goers to have fun but be safe,
Gavin said;
‘Please check your equipment and have up to date charts on board, please always wear a life jacket and let someone know where you are going and what your plans are. It's also important to check the tides and keep an eye on the weather, take a VHF radio and don’t rely on a mobile’.
RNLI media contacts
For more information please telephone Anne-Marie Clark, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on07887 855073 - [email protected] or Dave Riley, Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer on 07795 015042 - [email protected] or contact RNLI Public Relations on 01202 336789
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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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