New Fleetwood RNLI inshore lifeboat helm answers first shout to yacht stuck on low tide
Fleetwood Lifeboat assists crew of two on board stranded yacht.
Fleetwood RNLI Lifeboat crew were called to action on Saturday evening after a yacht with two people on board ran aground at the top of the channel on a falling tide.
The crew were paged at 5.12pm following reports received by HM Coastguard’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Holyhead that the 32 ft vessel had become stranded as the tide ebbed.
Crew members quickly assembled at the lifeboat station, but it was soon established that the water had receded too far for the inshore lifeboat to safely reach the casualty vessel at that time.
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Contact was made with the two people on board of the yacht and a welfare check confirmed both were safe and well.
With no immediate danger identified, a decision was taken not to launch and a plan was put together to launch on the next flooding tide to assist once conditions allowed.
At first light the next day, around 3.45am, crews launched the inshore lifeboat D-583 ‘Harbert’ under the command of ILB Keith Greenhalgh who took the helm in March making this his first callout at the helm.
Also on board for their first call out was Aimee Scott and newly passed out ILB tier two crew member Dan Smith. Volunteer Launch Authority Emma Roney ran the shoreside aspects of the shout for the first time too.
The lifeboat and crew stood by as the tide rose, remaining on scene until the yacht successful refloated. Once clear, the vessel was escorted back to Fleetwood Marina met by colleagues from HM Coastgurd Fleetwood. The D-class inshore lifeboat returned back to station at 05:50 on Sunday morning.