Tasked by HM Coastguard at 1:27am on Wednesday 9 July, the volunteer crew launched their Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Spirit of Loch Fyne at 1:43am and quickly located the casualty vessel. One of the lifeboat crew transferred across to the vessel to assess its situation and to determine whether any of the people on board required casualty care. Volunteer Helm Tim Edwards concluded that the safest course of action was to tow the vessel the short distance to Lyme Regis Harbour; this was completed by 2:00am.
Once the casualty yacht had been safely moored to one of the outer harbour pontoons its crew was handed over to the Coastguard mobile rescue team which had also been tasked to the incident. Spirit of Loch Fyne then returned to the RNLI slipway where it was washed down and refuelled by volunteer shore crew before being rehoused at 2:45am.
Summing up the rescue Helm Tim Edwards said: ‘This late-night shout underlines why we train in the dark as well as in daylight. My crew worked very well together to assess the situation and set up a tow to get the vessel to safety as quickly as possible.’
This was the 19th service call for the volunteers of Lyme Regis RNLI this year and came only hours after they were diverted from a training exercise to assist three children reported to be in difficulty on kayaks near Beer. The children were found to be safe and well.
Photograph:
Volunteer crew silhouetted against the historic Cobb wall as he returned to Lyme Regis lifeboat station at 2:00am this morning.
Credit:
RNLI/Cris Cadby