Barrow lifeboat assists yacht with engine failure
The volunteer crew from Barrow RNLI launched their inshore lifeboat this afternoon to go to the aid of a stranded yacht in Morecambe Bay.
The request for assistance was received from HM Coastguard at 12.41pm. The information given was that a 28-foot (8.5-metre) yacht, with one person on board, had suffered engine failure approximately one mile east of Haws Point.
The crew was paged for the second time this weekend, and the inshore lifeboat, Raymond and Dorothy Billingham, was launched at 1.05pm with Adam Cleasby at the helm along with crew, Michael Armstrong and Phil Jackson.
The lifeboat was tasked by HM Coastguard to make its way to the casualty and assess the situation once on scene. The lifeboat reached the casualty vessel at 1.20 pm and established that its engine had overheated and was in need of repair. After careful consideration and the likelihood that the vessel would be left aground at low water in the evening, it was decided that the safest option was to take the casualty under tow to a safe mooring. With a line attached the yacht was towed to a mooring off Piel Island to enable the vessel’s owner to undertake the necessary repairs.
The lifeboat returned to the boathouse at 2.40pm where it was re-housed by the waiting shore crew and made ready for the next launch. The weather at the time of the incident was good and the wind was westerly, Force 2 – 3. The high tide was at 1.28pm with a height of 9.7m.
Key facts about the RNLI
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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