On Saturday 14 March, Falmouth Coastguard tasked Fowey’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat to assist a 47' yacht 12 miles south of Fowey harbour. The lifeboat launched at 10:39 and proceeded to the yacht arriving at 11:04.
On arrival Border Force were on scene. Plymouth's all-weather lifeboat was also tasked. Border force staff were on board, and Fowey’s Atlantic stood off. When Plymouth lifeboat arrived on scene they took the casualty vessel under tow and the Atlantic escorted the lifeboat and the yacht towards Fowey. At 11:56 Fowey were then tasked to another incident so left the yacht to be towed back to Fowey by the Plymouth lifeboat.
At the request of the Fowey harbour master, Falmouth Coastguard also requested the launch of Fowey’s D Class lifeboat to provide the Plymouth Lifeboat with local knowledge of Fowey harbour. At 12:47 Fowey’s D class lifeboat launched and met the Plymouth lifeboat with the yacht under tow at 1:10pm. One of Fowey’s crew crew transferred to the Plymouth lifeboat to provide local knowledge briefing and pilotage. Fowey’s D Class then followed them both into Fowey harbour to moor the yacht at Berrrills yard pontoon.
In the second shout that day, Falmouth Coastguard tasked Fowey’s volunteer crew to assist a Merry Fisher yacht with machinery failure, a detached prop shaft and possible water ingress. They arrived on scene to the second stranded yacht at 12:15. The crew carried out an investigation and no water ingress was found, but as there was potential for water to ingress, the boat needed to be towed to a safe place where it could be lifted out of the water. It was decided that Falmouth was the best location, and that the boat needed to be towed there, so Falmouth lifeboat was requested to assist. The Falmouth crew arrived and took over the tow at 1:37 whereby the Fowey lifeboat was released.
On Sunday 15 March, whilst Fowey’s Atlantic 85 was on one of their regular Sunday morning training exercises, Falmouth Coastguard tasked the Fowey crew to assist a 47' yacht with a suspected fire on board.
Arriving on scene at 11:35 the situation was assessed and the casualty was asked to return to Fowey. Because of the weather conditions in Fowey harbour at the time, Falmouth lifeboat was requested to assist with manoeuvring within the harbour as the yacht had no engine.
Falmouth lifeboat arrived on scene, and along with Fowey’s Atlantic 85 escorted the yacht under sail into Fowey Harbour, where the lifeboats manoeuvred it to moor up at Berrills yard pontoon.
Fowey RNLI
Fowey's Atlantic 85 lifeboat setting on the first shout of the weekend
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.
