Falmouth RNLI lifeboat volunteers assist single handed skipper and his gaff yawl
The 34 foot wooden vessel had anchored off St Mawes earlier in the day (Thursday 8 August) after a passage from France. Unfortunately later that evening, the gale force southerly on shore wind caused the gaffer to drag her anchor and she ended up against St Mawes Quay.
At the request of the UK Coastguard, Falmouth inshore lifeboat launched just after midnight (Friday 9 August) with crew Elliot Holman (Helm), Nick Head and Jamie Connolly on board. They arrived on scene at 12.12am where the Falmouth Pilot Boat Arrow was assisting the casualty.
The inshore lifeboat placed a crew member on board the casualty and a towline was attached to keep the vessel off the shore. At 12.23am the Severn class all-weather lifeboat Richard Cox Scott was also launched to assist and with Falmouth RNLI Coxswain Jonathon Blakeston in command and crew members Luke Wills, Dave Nicoll, Tom Bird, Adam West, Neil Capper and Chris Simpson on board, arrived on scene 10 minutes later.
The tow was transferred to the all-weather lifeboat and the casualty was towed to the shelter of Falmouth Inner Harbour and safely placed at anchor at 1.34am. Both lifeboats were then released to return to their station.
Falmouth RNLI Coxswain Jonathon Blakeston said: ‘We’ve been doing a lot of training recently with new crew members but the sea and weather conditions on this job dictated that we needed to take an experienced crew and I was delighted with the team work leading to a successful outcome.’
Notes to editors
- The photo is a library shot of the two lifeboats involved in this incident.
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