A volunteer Portpatrick RNLI coxswain assisted when a yacht was in difficulty
Andy Stakes put his training to good use when he was recently shadowing a Royal Yachting Association instructor on a competent crew course out of Largs and HM Coastguard asked if they could help.
A yacht in Millport Bay on Great Cumbrae had a rope round its propellor and had called the Coastguard for assistance before radio silence from the 30ft yacht.
Andy says: ‘We were asked if we could investigate and then report back to the coastguard. We turned our yacht around and motored back into the bay. We found the yacht had dropped anchor about 75m from the shore. There was a 24Knt onshore breeze, and the yacht was slowly dragging towards the shore.
‘The other RYA instructor had no experience of rescuing vessels, so he handed control of our yacht to me. After briefing him, the rest of the crew and the skipper of the casualty vessel we took the yacht in an alongside tow and placed him onto a mooring ball.
‘After checking he had sufficient supplies to last through the night (if necessary) we informed Belfast Coastguard of the situation and left the skipper to arrange for someone to clear his prop.’
Andy says this was a classic case of putting into practice all the RNLI training – ‘The RNLI training becomes ingrained and second nature and the main reason I was calm and could give precise instructions is because of all that practice and training.’
We are delighted that one of the charity's volunteers was able to help – it just shows that they are always on call even when they are not in Portpatrick!
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RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789, [email protected]
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The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.
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