Hoylake RNLI volunteers rescue a yacht with three people on board
In the early hours of Mothering Sunday, Hoylake RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat was tasked to assist a 9m yacht which had suffered engine failure. With three people on board, she was drifting in choppy seas close to the main shipping lanes of the River Mersey.
Having set off from Holyhead the previous evening bound for Liverpool, the crew decided to alert the Coastguard. In the early hours of Mothering Sunday, Hoylake’s volunteer lifeboat crew were paged to assist.
Shortly after the hour shift to British Summer Time, RNLI volunteer crew responded to the 4:25am page and the charity's all-weather lifeboat Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood was launched soon afterwards. Having located the vessel, they soon took it under tow and into the River Mersey via the Rock Channel. The yacht was guided into Liverpool Marine lock where RNLI volunteers assisted the grateful crew to berth on to the pontoon.
After a happy ending, the all-weather lifeboat returned to Hoylake RNLI station at 9:00am where volunteer shore crew made her ready for service once again.
Hoylake RNLI Coxswain Andy Dodd said: ‘The crew of the yacht had all of the right safety equipment on board and did the right thing by calling the Coastguard in the circumstances. Being so close to the busy shipping lanes of the River Mersey, the yacht and its crew could have soon found themselves in a dangerous situation had they not been taken under tow.’
‘We were pleased that we could finally bring them to the safety of the marina after their difficult journey from Holyhead.’
Volunteers of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution are on standby ready to fulfil their duty in search and rescue operations 24, or in this particular case, 23 hours a day!
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.
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