Beaumaris lifeboat launched to a yacht aground on a sandbank by Caernarfon
At 4.38 pm on Sunday 20 September 2020 the volunteer crew members of the Beaumaris lifeboat received a page from the U.K. Coastguard to launch in response to a ‘mayday’ call received from a yacht that had gone aground.
The Beaumaris lifeboat Annette Mary Liddington launched at 4.46 pm and made her way towards the casualty which was on the sandbank south of Victoria dock Caernarfon.
Once near the casualty vessel the lifeboat approached the casualty vessel which still had her sails set an engine running. After some difficulties the lifeboat managed to get a crew member on to the sandbank.
It then became apparent that the solitary crew member of the yacht had left the vessel using her tender and been picked up by a rigid inflatable boat, being taken to the shore to meet the Llandwrog Mobile Coastguard Rescue team.
The lifeboat crew member switched off the engine and lowered the sails on the casualty vessel and laid out an anchor on a 50- foot chain.
The lifeboat volunteer was then recovered into the lifeboat at which time it became apparent that the crew member of the casualty vessel had left the coastguards and made his own way across to the sandbank and re-boarded his craft.
Unfortunately, despite several attempts the lifeboat crew were unable to communicate with him. They then departed the scene on the basis that the coastguard would speak with him about his intentions at high tide (due at 12.30 am on the 21 September 2020).
The lifeboat returned to her station around 7.00 pm being serviced and refuelled and thoroughly cleaned under the Covid 19 instruction before the crew could return home.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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