Barrow RNLI Lifeboat Launched to Drifting Yacht
Volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow Lifeboat Station launched their all-weather lifeboat late yesterday evening to recover a yacht drifting in Walney Channel.
The call for assistance came through from the regional HM Coastguard base in Holyhead at 10-56pm. The Coastguard had been contacted by the crew of a yacht moored off Piel Island who had observed another yacht nearby which appeared to be drifting towards the Lifeboat Station.
The crew was paged and the Barrow all-weather lifeboat, ‘Grace Dixon’, was launched at 11-14pm under the command of Coxswain, Shaun Charnley, assisted by a crew of six.
The lifeboat was quickly alongside the casualty vessel, a 28-foot (8.5 metre) yacht. It was established that there was nobody on board the yacht and that it was dragging its mooring in the strong rising tide. Two lifeboat crew members were transferred to the yacht to attach a tow line so that it could be moved to a more secure mooring east of the lifeboat station and clear of the navigation channel.
With the casualty vessel safe, the lifeboat returned to the Lifeboat Station at 0-30am (Saturday) where it was rehoused by the waiting slip crew and made ready for the next launch.
The weather at the time of the incident was fine and the wind was north-easterly, Force 2-3. High water was at 0-55am on Saturday with a predicted height of 9.4 metres.
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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