Staithes and Runswick RNLI and Whitby RNLI rescue a yacht in multi-agency call
A 40 foot yacht was rescued from the rocks on the Cleveland coast in the early hours of this morning (Thursday 15 September) after a dramatic 10 hour operation involving three RNLI lifeboats from Staithes and Whitby and HM Coastguard.
The steel-hulled yacht Phalarope ran aground at Hummersea near Skinningrove in thick fog at around 5.30pm on Wednesday. She was making her first voyage under new ownership from Grimsby to Scotland and the Caledonian Canal.
The three crew, two men and a woman, thought to be in their 50s and 60s, were helped ashore unhurt after Staithes and Runswick RNLI volunteer crew member Luke Hutchinson swam ashore from the lifeboat to help guide them to safety alongside an HM Coastguard unit that had scrambled down the cliffs at Hummersea. Visibility was less than 20 metres.
After the three sailors had been taken to Staithes Lifeboat House, a second Staithes RNLI team went by land with two kedge anchors to stabilise the yacht as the tide fell further. Its single keel was wedged to a rock. They also attached a float and light to help locate the yacht as darkness fell.
The Staithes lifeboat Pride of Leicester, with Drew Baxter again at the helm, relaunched after midnight to stand by as the yacht successfully refloated. RNLI crew member Liz Wilson and Deputy Launch Authority Sean Baxter boarded the yacht to help in her passage back to Whitby.
When it was realised that the rudder had jammed and the propeller was damaged, Whitby's all-weather lifeboat was launched to take over the tow. They laid a drogue to help steerage and arrived in Whitby harbour at 3.30am, with Whitby’s inshore lifeboat helping at the harbour entrance.
‘It was a long night for all concerned,’ said a Staithes RNLI spokesman this morning, ‘but a successful outcome. It involved a full range of skills and manpower with at least 10 of our team involved at land and sea, plus the Whitby RNLI crews and HM Coastguard. Happily, apart from a nasty scare for the sailors, nobody was hurt and the yacht was saved.’
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