Castletownbere RNLI assists five people on yacht to safety
Castletownbere RNLI's lifeboat was launched early this morning (Thursday 5 August) just after 2am to go to the immediate assistance of a yacht that was dragging its anchor in Dunmanus Bay in West Cork.
Yesterday evening a 32ft yacht, with five people onboard, anchored near Dooneen point on the northern shore of Dunmanus Bay. As the evening passed and the weather grew progressively worse, the yacht started to drag her anchor. The skipper became increasingly concerned and subsequently raised the alarm with Valentia Coast Guard Radio.
Castletownbere RNLI's lifeboat, Annette Hutton, was requested at 2am and launched within minutes under the command of Coxswain Dave Fenton with crew Marney O’Donoghue, Sean ‘Bawn’ O’Sullivan, Joe Cronin, Seamus Harrington, Aaron O’Boyle and Donagh Murphy. The yacht was located at 2.50am and, once contact was made, it requested that it be escorted to a safer mooring. Weather on scene was described as southerly, Force 5/6.
The lifeboat escorted the yacht from Dunmanus Bay into calmer waters and she was finally moored at Lawrence Cove Marina in Bere Island just before 6am this morning.
Commenting on the call out Coxswain Dave Fenton, stated that: ‘The yacht made the right call in seeking help and moving to a safer mooring – there was a small craft warning in operation and the weather was deteriorating – in circumstances such as these, it is always better to err on the side of caution’.
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