An early morning rescue for the Lymington RNLI

The station's Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat B-882 David Bradley, launched with Greg Pachany as helm and headed out of the Lymington river. The conditions were good and the lifeboat was able to find the RIB quickly near Alum Bay.

The RIB with 2 people on board had an electrical fault, which meant they lost power, but had managed to secure the boat with their anchor. The anchor was dragging and they were getting close to the shipping channel. Greg decided to secure a tow line and take the RIB back into Lymington and onto the Harbour Masters pontoon at 1.15am.

Unfortunately during the recovery of the lifeboat, the tractor engine died whilst waiting for the lifeboat to mount the trailer. After an hour or trying to sort with our mechanic, the tractor was left on the slipway and the lifeboat secured on the pontoon at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. The RNLI engineering team from Poole attended the tractor early this morning and managed to fix the issue and the lifeboat was taken back into the station.

The Helm Greg Pachany said, 'The people in the RIB did exactly the right thing and were wearing lifejackets. A handheld VHF radio is also very useful and a secondary means to call for help'.

Thanks to all our voluntary crew, who were up for a large amount of time last night and have headed to their day jobs this morning.

Crew: Greg Pachany, Ed Wallrock, Rob Merrix, Leon Hockley.

Suzanne Brown, Lifeboat Press Officer, Lymington Lifeboat Station (07711) 393910 [email protected].uk

Paul Dunt, Regional Media Officer, SE and London (07785) 296252 [email protected]

For enquiries outside normal business hours contact the RNLI duty press officer on (01202) 336789

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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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