Three call outs in a row for Poole Lifeboat volunteers
Poole Lifeboat volunteers were tasked three times on Sunday (February 5) and it was the first 'shouts' for two of our new recruits.
The first call out was at 3:15pm to a report of a vessel that had gone aground in the river Frome at the entrance of the Wareham Channel, the vessel a 24ft yacht had reported to have four people on-board, however when the lifeboat arrived they found that one person was aboard the vessels tender and three on the yacht.
Conditions out in the harbour were calm and clear with a blustery bitterly cold North Easterly wind that was gusting up to a force 5, low water was at 7:00pm.
When the lifeboat arrived on scene they checked that all the people and vessel were ok, a lifeboat crewman was put on to the yacht and he secured a towline. The lifeboat towed the stricken vessel into deeper water, with its engine now running, and the towline was released.
In the meantime, the person in the tender had broken down and had been pushed into the shallows and up against the reeds. The lifeboat carefully approached and threw a line to pull the tender and one person to safety. The person was transferred onboard the lifeboat and the tender taken undertow.
The lifeboat followed the yacht back up the river to its mooring at Ridge.
Once all was safe and secure, the crew then returned back to station to warm up and refuel the lifeboat was ready for service by 5.45pm.
The next call for assistance came through at 7:20pm, darkness had fallen, and the skies were clear with a sharp chill in the air. The D class was requested to launch and assist a person in a dinghy that had broken down North of Brownsea Island.
The lifeboat volunteers were swiftly on scene and found the dinghy between the Old Chain Ferry barge and Brownsea lagoon, the crew checked that the person was okay and then attached a tow line and brought him back to Poole Quay and into Fishermen’s dock.
They then headed back to the station, when another request to launch came through from the Coastguard at 8:20pm, the Atlantic lifeboat was launched to a report of a distressed person on Bournemouth Pier, as the lifeboat crew got underway a radio message came over the airways affirming that the situation had changed and the person was deemed safe, so the lifeboat was stood down and requested by the Coastguard to return back to station.
Sunday, traditionally the day of rest, was not for the Poole Lifeboat volunteers and for two of them this evening was one they will always remember as Alex and Max partook in their ‘First official’ Shouts, well done new crew (with names ending in the letter X), it’s good to see all your training put into to practice, congratulations on wetting your feet!
For more information please telephone Anne-Marie Clark, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07887 855073 - [email protected] or Dave Riley, Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer on 07795 015042 - [email protected] or contact RNLI Newsdesk 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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