LIFEBOAT MAGAZINE ARCHIVE

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Fishing Smacks

EYEMOUTH, N.B.—After a heavy which had been blowing for some days, temporary fine weather induced several fishing- boats to go to sea on the 5th April. Soon afterwards heavy ground seas set in, and fishing-boats from Eyemouth and several adjacent villages bore up for that port for shelter. But on arriving off it a ridge of sea was seen to form a dangerous barrier to their entrance into the river, and the fishing-smacks, in most cases ignorant of the pilotage, "hove to," and hoisted signals of distress. The Life-boat James and Rachel Grindlay was manned, and pushed out against a heavy sea; and the nearest smack being boarded she was supplied with a Life-boatman as a pilot, and the Life-boat closely following in case of accident, she was got safely into the river. The Life-boat was then again faced outwards against the storm, and eventually twenty-one fishing vessels, carrying crews amounting to 120 men, were safely piloted into port by men supplied by the Life-boat. The Hon. Secretary's Report states that " but for the presence and help of the Life-boat it was next to an impossibility that they could all have reached the shore in safety through such a rough piece of sea. The Life-boat's services on this occasion were of the most noble character.".