Lough Derg RNLI assists six people in two back-to-back call outs

At 4.45pm Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat, Jean Spier, launched with helm Eleanor Hooker, Doireann Kennedy, Chris Parker and Richard Nolan on board. Winds were north-westerly Force 3, visibility was very good.

At 5pm the lifeboat arrived on scene. The casualty vessel was grounded, bow up on a shoal inside the Goat Road, a location midway up the north-eastern shore of the lake. Both people on board were safe and unharmed and requested to don their lifejackets. An RNLI crew member transferred across to the casualty vessel to check that it was not holed and after being requested to do so by the helm, set up an astern tow.

At 5.15pm the lifeboat had the casualty vessel off the shoal and under tow to safe water, where the drives and propeller were checked and found to be in good working order.

Whilst the RNLI volunteer was providing guidance on lake buoyage before the cruiser continued its passage south under its own power, Lough Derg RNLI Boathouse contacted the lifeboat to say a 16ft motor boat with four people on board was in difficulty in Scariff Bay at the south-western end of the lake. The RNLI volunteer transferred back to the lifeboat, which informed Valentia Coast Guard that it was making way to Scariff Bay to assist the four people in difficulty.

En route the RNLI volunteers asked Valentia Coast Guard if they had an exact location for the casualty vessel and were given coordinates and a report that the people on board could see Rabbit Island. At 5.40pm the lifeboat located the casualty vessel deep inside Scarriff Bay near Castlebawn Castle on the south-western shore opposite Rabbit Island.

All four people were safe and unharmed and wearing their lifejackets. The lifeboat volunteers set up for an alongside tow and the RNLI helm asked the skipper of the casualty vessel to raise his outboard engine to reduce drag. The lifeboat took the vessel to the safety of Mountshannon Harbour, where volunteers assisted with the recovery of the vessel to a road trailer.

The lifeboat departed the scene and was back at station at 7.15pm.

Christine O’Malley, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Lough Derg RNLI advises boat users to ‘anticipate each navigation buoy on your route and keep a constant lookout, and especially for the Goat Road navigation mark which is closer to the centre line of the lake than might be expected’.

Ends

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.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.