Tighnabruaich lifeboat works with RNLI Largs to assist broken down yacht
RNLI Tighnabruaich launched their inshore lifeboat on Tuesday 19 April at the request of the UK Coastguard to assist a casualty vessel with three persons on board, adrift with gearbox failure around three miles off Ardlamont Point.
Shore crew were already at Tighnabruaich station undertaking training assessments when the pagers sounded just after 5pm, and the assembled volunteer crew launched the
James and Helen Mason.
Following assessment an RNLI crew member was put on board and the yacht taken under tow to ensure safety. The size of the stricken vessel dictated that the nearest suitable harbour was Ardrossan. The Tighnabruaich crew rendezvoused with colleagues from RNLI Largs station off the South end of Bute, with the Largs crew taking over the tow onward to Ardrossan. There the yacht’s crew could make arrangements for the casualty vessel to be lifted from the water.
Following the safe transfer to RNLI Largs, Tighnabruaich’s crew headed back toward the station with a couple of unexpected encounters along the way. A detached mooring was spotted drifting in the channel off Carry Point and the crew took this aboard to prevent any danger to other passing vessels, to land out of harms way at the station.
On approach and with the launch tractor sat ready to bring the ILB ashore, crew member Graham Smart who was sitting his tractor driving final assessment was kept waiting as the lifeboat slowed having been joined by a pod of dolphins who swam alongside as it returned to shore. The boat then returned to station, was refuelled, cleaned and made ready for next service.
Tighnabruaich helm Garry Coyle commented “it was my brother in law as helm on the Largs boat, so it was a bit of a family affair with the flank station”. RNLI boat and shore crew are volunteers, and rescue launches depend on them, the generous support of their communities and those who donate to the charity that saves lives at sea.
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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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