Five shouts in seven days for Angle Lifeboat Station
Five shouts in seven days for Angle Lifeboat Station
Lifeboats News Release
Volunteer crew at Angle Lifeboat Station had a busy week with five shouts in seven days, and three of those shouts took place within twenty-four hours.
The crews were paged shortly before 9am on the morning of Monday 29 July which turned out to be the first of five shouts in the next seven days. The All-weather lifeboat was requested to launch to a 30-foot fishing vessel, with two crew aboard, that had fouled their propeller off Great Castle Head near Dale.
Angle's lifeboat arrived on scene and once a tow was rigged the fishing vessel crew managed to release themselves from the obstruction, but the propeller was still fouled.
The casualty was towed to Neyland Marina where they were safely berth alongside their berth an hour and half later.
As the crews were rehousing the lifeboat shortly after 4.30 pm on Tuesday afternoon after spending a day afloat carrying out training assessments with new crew members, a PanPan from a motor cruiser was received and the lifeboat was requested to launch. The 30 foot vessel had lost engine power off South Hook LNG Terminal jetty, the owner had deployed his anchor, but it wasn’t holding, and the vessel was drifting towards the jetty. As the lifeboat was proceeding to the casualty, and the anchor was now holding, a tow was rigged and the lifeboat proceeded to tow the motor cruiser away from the jetty towards Milford Marina.
Whilst heading up towards Milford Marina the owner managed to get the engine going and was happy enough to motor itself to its mooring upriver, so the tow was realised and the lifeboat provided an escort as far as Neyland and then returned to station.
Friday afternoon shortly before 3pm the crews were requested to launch to person in difficulty in the water off the entrance to Milford docks. As the lifeboat arrived on scene the person had managed to make their way safely ashore, but their dinghy was still anchored some distance off the entrance. The casualty was taken back to their dinghy by the lifeboat where the anchor was recovered, and they made their way to the mackerel stage pontoon and the lifeboat returned to station.
Shortly after 2am, in the early hours of Saturday morning, the crews were woken up by their pagers alerting them to persons in the water off the Pembroke Dock Ferry Terminal. Angle's lifeboat launched and was proceeding at best speed to the area and once on scene it was confirmed that the persons had been recovered from the water. The lifeboat released and returned to station.
Just after 12pm on Saturday afternoon the lifeboat was launched to its fifth shout of the week to a 37 feet yacht with engine failure and some issues with their sails off Linney head. The yacht had two persons aboard, with one crew member suffering with sea sickness, and was continuing to sail towards Milford when the lifeboat arrived and scene.
A crew member was then transferred to the yacht from the lifeboat to assist the skipper in getting the sail stowed and a tow rigged. Once completed a course was set for Milford Marina.
At the Marina entrance the yacht was taken alongside the lifeboat and placed on the Mackerel Stage pontoon. Once secured, the lifeboat was released and returned to station some two hours after launching.
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.
