Barrow Lifeboats launched to rescue yacht
Barrow Lifeboat Station’s volunteer crew launched both their lifeboat’s yesterday evening to go to the aid of a yacht which was in difficulty south east of Piel Island.
The request for assistance came from the HM Coastguard base in Holyhead, at 8-13pm. The information received was that a yacht, with one person on board, had run aground approximately one and a half miles south, south east of the lifeboat station.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat ‘Vision of Tamworth’, was launched at 8-30pm with Dave Kell at the helm. The all-weather lifeboat ‘Grace Dixon’ was launched some ten minutes later under the command of Coxswain, Shaun Charnley, assisted by five crew. Both lifeboats proceeded towards the stricken vessel which they located at an area known as “Seldom Seen”. Low water had just passed, and the ‘Grace Dixon’ had to stand off the casualty vessel whilst the ‘Vision of Tamworth’ transferred two lifeboat crew to the yacht in order to secure a line and prepare to tow it clear. The strength of the wind and lack of water made the rescue a challenging operation.
However, once the incoming tide had allowed the yacht to re-float, it was able to be towed back towards the lifeboat station where it was secured safely to a mooring for the night.
The lifeboats returned to the boathouse at 11-05pm where they were cleaned and made ready for the next launch.
The wind at the time of the incident was south-westerly, Force 5 - 6, and the next high tide was at 1-43am with a height of 8.9 metres.
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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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