Two shouts in one day for Weymouth RNLI lifeboat
Weymouth RNLI lifeboat was launched at 10.30am on Tuesday 7th July in response to a Mayday call made from a vessel near to the North entrance to Portland which was taking on water.
Before the arrival of the lifeboat, another boat which was nearby also responded to the Mayday call. The skipper of that boat, who happened to be a RNLI Weymouth lifeboat station DLA (Deputy Launching Authority), boarded the vessel and managed to stop the egress of water, which turned out to be from one of the twin engines. With the water no longer coming in the other engine was started and used to get the bilge pump to work and empty out the water.
On arrival of the lifeboat it was decided that as everything seemed to be under control, that the lifeboat would just escort the vessel to its berth in Portland Marina.
The lifeboat returned to station at 11.54am and made ready for the next shout.
That shout came sooner than expected when at 3.05pm the lifeboat was launched to take over a tow from Salcombe lifeboat.
Salcolmbe lifeboat had rescued a 38' motorboat with 2 persons onboard. The vessel was on route from the Solent to Dartmouth when it suffered engine failure approx 5 miles West of Portland Bill. Salcolmbe lifeboat started towing the vessel towards Weymouth and requested that Weymouth lifeboat take over the tow so that Salcombe lifeboat could continue its passage from Salcolmbe to Poole.
The tow transfer took place a mile North West of Portland Bill, after which Salcombe carried on to Poole and Weymouth lifeboat brought the vessel back to Weymouth Harbour arriving at 6 pm where once again the lifeboat was made ready for the next shout.
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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