Plymouth all-weather lifeboat and volunteer crew launched to stricken vessel

Plymouth RNLI's relief lifeboat Osier and her crew steamed to a 25 foot yacht with three persons on board. The vessel had suffered problems with her rigging on a passage from Salcombe to Plymouth and they were approximately one and a half nautical miles from the Mewstone. To add to their problems the crew didn’t have a VHF radio so communication was poor.

Once on scene the lifeboat crew assessed the situation and discovered that the crew on the yacht were cold with one person suffering from sea-sickness. The sea state was moderate and a westerly wind was blowing at 15 knots. It was decided to transfer the three crew off the yacht to the lifeboat to get them warm and recover. Two volunteer lifeboat crew transferred to the yacht to make way to Queen Anne’s Battery Marina and the all-weather lifeboat escorted them.

With the yacht safely berthed in the marina the crew were reunited with their boat and the lifeboat and crew returned to Millbay marina, refuelled and ready for service

Notes to editors

• Plymouth RNLI lifeboat has been operating since 1862. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to www.rnli.org.uk/plymouth

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