LIFEBOAT MAGAZINE ARCHIVE

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Lifeboat Services

South West Division Dismasted yacht AT 1330 on Sunday August 11, 1985, Portland coastguard received a 999 call from a member of the public reporting he had seen a yacht firing a white flare about a mile and a half south of Lulworth Cove. The coastguard at Lulworth was alerted and reported that he could see a yacht, apparently dismasted, but under power and heading into weather. It seemed to be making no progress against the force 8 gale and did not respond when Lulworth coastguard fired a white flare.

Portland coastguard contacted Weymouth lifeboat station at 1422 and five minutes later the 54ft Arun class lifeboat, Tony Vandervell, slipped her mooring and, with Coxswain Victor Pitman at the helm, headed at full speed for the entrance to Weymouth harbour.

Inside the harbour the wind was a moderate south-westerly breeze, force 4; between rain squalls the cloud would break to allow brilliant sunshine to burst through. Visibility was about eight to ten miles and high water coincided with the lifeboat's departure.

On reaching the pierhead, Coxswain Pitman set course on 105°M towards the last reported position of the dismasted yacht. Twenty minutes later and just three miles short of Lulworth Cove, the lifeboat began to feel the full effects of the south-westerly gale. At times Coxswain Pitman was forced to reduce engine revolutions to prevent the lifeboat from broaching in the quartering sea.

At 1509 the lifeboat passed close to the south of Arish Mell buoy and altered course to the south east to follow the line of the tidal set. Six minutes later an orange smoke signal could be seen from the yacht which was three quarters of a mile ahead. The 30 ft auxiliary yacht, Vagrant Gypsy, was steaming very slowly on a southeasterly heading and yawing badly. She could be seen rolling heavily and shipping seas as her skipper tried to clear St Alban's Ledge. The south-westerly gale, force 8 to 9, was creating a very rough confused sea over the 15ft swell.

Tide times differ considerably from those at Weymouth and as the lifeboat approached the yacht the tide was reaching half-tide flood.

Three people could be seen in the yacht's cockpit, and her mast had apparently sheered off at deck level.

The debris had been cut clear apart from some small-sized ropes hanging over the starboard side. Coxswain Pitman, using the loud hailer, told the yacht skipper to disengage his engine.

Then, having fendered the starboard side, the coxswain approached the yacht from astern and placed the lifeboat alongside.

Two women were snatched from her cockpit on to the lifeboat's side deck.

The lifeboat was then driven astern to come clear of the yacht. Her skipper was indicating that he wanted another person taken off, leaving him and one other aboard to try and save the vessel.

Just as before, the coxswain approached from astern and, with some difficulty, an elderly man was pulled aboard before the lifeboat was again brought astern and clear of the yacht.

All this time the wind and tide were carrying both the lifeboat and casualty rapidly towards very broken water off St Alban's Ledge.

Coxswain Pitman placed the lifeboat to leeward of the yacht and offered toput a crew member aboard to help secure a towline. The yacht skipper was worried that the yacht might be damaged during the transfer and refused the offer. Instead, instructions were shouted through the loud-hailer to the skipper on how to form a towing bridle using the mainsheet.

Two loose turns of the mainsheet were secured round the yacht's chain plates and the lifeboat's nylon towline was then pulled aboard the yacht and secured to the bight of the bridle which hung just clear of her stem. As the towline was paid out from the lifeboat, her crew secured two coir fenders at the mid-point to help relieve the effects of whipping.

By 1550 the lifeboat was ready to start the tow on a heading of 270°M; Portland Bill was ahead at 14 miles and the overfalls of St Alban's Ledge just two cables to leeward.

There were now very heavy rain squalls and Coxswain Pitman kept his speed to an absolute minimum, engaging first one engine, then the other, at 600 rpm. No more than one knot was achieved as the tow was taken clear of the ledge. By 1700, when the tow was four and a half miles south of Mupe Rocks, speed could be increased to 700 rpm and course was altered to 285°M. At 1724 the lifeboat again altered course to 305°M but speed never went above 800 rpm until the two vessels eventually reached Weymouth harbour at 1900.

The yacht was placed alongside inThe Cove and the lifeboat was back on her mooring, refuelled and ready for service at 1922.

Following this service the thanks of the Institution on vellum were presented to Coxswain Victor Pitman and vellum service certificates were presented to Second Coxswain/Mechanic Derek- Sargent, Assistant Mechanic Colin Pavey and Crew Members Eric Pavey, Graham Keates, Robert Runyeard and Christopher Tett.

South East Division Pier rescue attempt THE CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER of Brighton Palace Pier, Graham Sweetman, was in his office at the shore end of the pier with his part-time colleague Payman Akhaveissy, an Iranian student, at 1615 on the afternoon of Sunday August 4, 1985, when they were told there was someone in the water on the outer west side of the pier.

They ran to the seaward end of the pier where they were joined by anothercolleague, William Kerkhoff. There they could see the body of a man close against the west side of the pier; it was not possible to tell whether he was still alive. Graham Sweetman immediately asked someone to telephone the police.

The weather was poor with a southwesterly gale, force 8, to strong gale, force 9, blowing. Heavy seas were running and although local conditions normally produce a westerly running tidal stream an hour and a half before high water, on this particular afternoon, with the wind holding back the tide, there was very little westerly stream.

Someone had already thrown a lifebuoy to the man in the water without success and after a short discussion, Sweetman and Akhaveissy decided they should launch the pier's safety boat, a ten foot fibreglass rowing dinghy. They manhandled the dinghy down two flights of steel steps on the east side of the pier where seas were rising and falling some 10 to 12 feet.

They then cast the boat into the water, Akhaveissy jumped on board and, while William Kerkhoff held the painter, Sweetman followed him and immediately shipped the oars.

Akhaveissy began to bail with a bucket Kerkhoff had placed on board.

The boat was rowed towards the south west, underneath the pier amid confused seas and with the considerable risk of being driven against one of the steel support piles. However, they cleared the western side and the two men, one at each oar, rowed seaward so that they could ultimately make passage down sea to the man in the water who was, by now, some 70 yards to the west of the pier. All the time Kerkhoff was giving hand signals to direct them towards the casualty. Although the boat could be propelled reasonably well with two men at the oars, Payman Akhaveissy was frequently having to leave his position to bail and to try to gain sight of the casualty. They made two separate attempts to get near him, but without success, and all the time they were becoming more certain that the body was lifeless as they could see no movement. The boat was now about 80 yards from the shore and Sweetman decided that any further effort would be fruitless. He therefore explained to his colleague how he was going to try to make for the shore between the two westerly groynes.

Pointing the dinghy south west and by controlled rowing he managed to move the dinghy, stern first, towards the shore. Akhaveissy, meanwhile, continually bailing, also gave warning of every approaching wave. Sweetman slowly made progress, either by resting on oars until a crest had broken, or by rowing hard to meet the breaking six to eight foot seas.

Forty feet from the shore Sweetman realised that the seas were higher still and harder to negotiate. Capsize now was likely and he removed the oars and threw them shorewards to avoid injury if he and Akhaveissy were thrown from the boat.

A crowd had by now gathered on the beach, including police officers and William Kerkhoff. Thirty feet from the shore, among heavy breaking seas, a particularly large sea capsized the dinghy, bow over stern, throwing Akhaveissy on to the bare shore where the undertow of the retreating wave drew him seaward again. Sweetman found himself under the dinghy but uninjured.

Witnessing this from the shore, Kerkhoff, an experienced Australian surf lifeguard, ran into the sea and, part wading, part swimming, found Akhaveissy face down and unconscious in the surf. He grabbed him and waded against the considerable undertow to the shore where he passed him into the care of the police. They immediately began resuscitation and as soon as heregained consciousness he was taken by ambulance to hospital.

Meanwhile Sweetman had managed to extract himself from under the dinghy and, seeing Akhaveissy already on shore and the dinghy out of harm's way, waded to the safety of the beach.

Kerkhoff had gone back into the sea to help Sweetman, but seeing him wade ashore, returned to the shore himself.

Sweetman was unhurt and went straight back on duty after a change of clothes.

During the later stages of this incident, Brighton lifeboat station had been alerted and at 1649 the rigid inflatable Atlantic 21 lifeboat, Lions International—District 105 SE, launched.

She was manned by Helmsman Anthony Dowd and Crew Members Martin Harvey and Michael Bjark0y.

Just outside the marina entrance confused seas rising to 24 feet and reflecting off the breakwater, made for very treacherous conditions. The lifeboat cleared the marina entrance and headed south at reduced speed to gain sea room before setting a cross-sea course for the Palace Pier.

The seaward passage was very dangerous and each sea had to be 'navigated' with constant use of throttles to maintain safety and a reasonable speed of advance. Clear of the treacherous area outside the marina entrance, boat handling became easier but it still required full concentration from all the crew in the continuous heavy spray.

Eleven minutes after launching the lifeboat was 100 yards off Brighton's West Pier, having still not received the detailed nature of the casualty and also having the phrase 'west of pier' relayed to them as 'West Pier' by mistake.

However, the message then came through giving full details of the incident and saying that the men in the dinghy were now safe but that the body was still drifting off Palace Pier.

Helmsman Dowd set a course down wind to a position 200 yards west of Palace Pier. At 1701 the crew caught sight of the man's body, only 60 feet from the shoreline. There were very heavy seas and breaking surf and as it was obvious there could be little room for error, the lifeboat hove-to so that the crew could consider a plan of approach.

The helmsman then headed for the shore while one crew member kept lookout astern to assess the incoming seas. At the agreed time and only feet from the body, the lifeboat was turned to the south west and in the briefest of moments while the engines were stopped, the two crew members dragged the body inboard over the starboard bow.

Immediately Anthony Dowd drove the lifeboat ahead to clear the surf line and confirmed to the coastguard that they were now safe.

The crew, working on the assumption that the man may have been in the water for only a short time, immediately began cardiac massage and mouth-tomouth resuscitation. The helmsman had the difficult task of taking the lifeboat back to station at best possible speed in the prevailing conditions, all the time bearing in mind the safety of his crew who were administering first aid. The body was protected by inflated life jackets laid across the after end of the boat, the forward end being considered unsafe.

Although the body was warm, the crew members could detect no signs of life.

By 1715 the helmsman had safely negotiated the marina entrance. Again he asked his crew to keep lookout astern as heavy swells and breaking seas drove across the end of the breakwater.

Three minutes later the body was landed and taken by ambulance to hospital where the man was found to be dead.

Following this service the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum were presented to Graham Sweetman and a framed letter of thanks, signed by the chairman, the Duke of Atholl, was presented to Payman Akhaveissy. William Kerkhoffs rescue was referred to the Royal Humane Society and he was subsequently awarded a testimonial on vellum by the Society.

A framed letter of thanks from the chairman was also presented to Helmsman Anthony Dowd and a letter of thanks from Cdr Bruce Cairns, chief of operations, was sent to Crew Members Martin Harvey and Michael Bjark0y.

West Division Escorted yacht in gale A FORCE 8 west-north-westerly gale was blowing at midday on Thursday September 5, 1985, when the yacht, Sea Mirage, was on passage from Port St Mary on the Isle of Man, heading for Heswell in the Dee estuary.

With very rough seas at the entrance to the estuary, the yacht decided to head for Rhyl instead. The coastguard at Rhyl could see that the yacht, l'/2 miles to the east of the end channel marker, was making heavy weather of crossing the bar and asked a local fishing vessel, Striker, to go out to her assistance. When Striker reached the bar, however, her skipper radioed to the coastguard that it was too rough for him to cross it and escort the yacht.

At 1230 the coastguard contacted the honorary secretary of Rhyl lifeboat station and asked him to launch the lifeboat. Maroons were fired and at 1256 the relief 37ft Oakley class lifeboat /. G. Graves of Sheffield, on temporary duty at Rhyl, launched from her carriage and headed north by west to clear the heavy surf on the beach.

Her coxswain, Bruce Herbert, then steered west for l!/2 miles until the lifeboat was close to the yacht. The wind was still gale force 8 and seas very rough with heavy breaking surf in the approaches to Rhyl harbour. When he had ascertained by radio that theyacht had no drogue aboard, Coxswain Herbert decided it would be safer to escort her to Mostyn harbour, inside the Dee estuary.

There were two men on board the yacht and the coxswain asked if either of them wanted to be taken off or whether they needed one of his own crewmen to help them navigate. The yachtsmen radioed back that they would like an extra hand.

On the first run in the lifeboat was placed alongside the yacht's port quarter and Second Coxswain Donald Archer Jones jumped aboard. The two boats then headed for Mostyn harbour which they reached without further incident. The yacht was moored to the quay in a safe position and after her skipper had expressed his thanks to the lifeboat crew, the lifeboat set out for Rhyl. She was back at station at 1737 and by 1804 was rehoused and ready again for service.

Following this service a letter of appreciation, signed by Cdr Bruce Cairns, chief of operations, was sent to the coxswain and crew of Rhyl lifeboat.

West Division Injured climber HOLYHEAD COASTGUARD received WOrd on the evening of Saturday August 17, 1985, that a climber had fallen and was injured on the Go-Garth cliffs, four miles west of Holyhead. Maroons were fired and at 2130 Holyhead's 44ft Waveney class lifeboat, Faithful Forester, slipped her mooring and headed out to sea with Coxswain William Jones at the helm. She was escorting the station's 16ft D class inflatable lifeboat which, in spite of the darkness, the deputy launching authority had decided to launch because of the nature of the casualty.

The inflatable lifeboat was manned by Helmsman Peter Murphy and CrewMembers Iwan Williams and Windsor Lauden. The two lifeboats arrived at Go-Garth bay at 2150; the weather was showery with a gentle to moderate south-westerly breeze, force 3 to 4, and a slight sea.

The casualty, a man in his thirties, had broken his ankle and was suspended 150 feet below an overhang at a particularly treacherous part of the cliff, known as Wen Slab. The coastguard cliff rescue team were in the process of lowering the man down the cliff face when the lifeboats arrived.

Although the lifeboat crews were able to illuminate the cliff bottom with a parachute flare and searchlights, numerous rocks, many of them submerged, lay between the lifeboats and the shore. Slowly the D class inflatable moved towards the position below which the man was being lowered. Crew Member Windsor Lauden guided his helmsman to within 10 feet of the cliff face at which point the engine was cut and the lifeboat manhandled the rest of the way by her crew.

They were now in a very dark gully with steep cliffs on either side. The injured man and cliff rescuers were hanging about 20 feet in mid-air above their heads. Their radio had failed, so Crew Member Iwan Williams had to communicate with the coastguards at the top of the cliff so that the casualty could be guided towards the lifeboat.

This was not easy to do but eventually, as Helmsman Peter Murphy held the lifeboat in position, Windsor Lauden guided the man and one of his rescuers into the lifeboat.

The ropes were then cut and the lifeboat driven clear of the cliff face.

The helmsman maintained a slow speed to avoid any unnecessary movement to the broken ankle. When they were clear of the rocks the injured man was put aboard the waiting Faithful Forester.

The D class then returned to the cliff bottom to take aboard two remaining cliff rescuers and their equipment.

Using the manoeuvrability of the inflatable lifeboat and the oars they were able each time to avoid the rocks and make a clean run to and from the cliff face. The cliff rescue climbers were transferred to the larger lifeboat and then both boats headed back to station in company.

An ambulance took the injured man to hospital on arrival at Holyhead and the D class inflatable was re-housed, ready again for service at 2315.

Following this service a letter signed by Rear Admiral W. J. Graham, director, was sent to the honorary secretary of Holyhead lifeboat station expressing appreciative thanks to Helmsman Peter Murphy and Crew Members Iwan Williams and Windsor Lauden.

West Division Exhausted windsurfer A WINDSURFER had got into difficulties 300 feet off Morecambe stone jetty on the afternoon of Tuesday August 20, 1985. He was spotted from the promenade by a passer-by who immediately rang Liverpool coastguard. By 1420 thedeputy launching authority of Morecambe lifeboat station had been alerted and seven minutes later Morecambe's 16ft D class inflatable lifeboat had launched into a difficult sea and was speeding towards the windsurfer.

She was manned by Helmsman Mark Baxter and Crew Member David Willacy and as they cleared Morecambe Pier and headed west, the lifeboat began to encounter short, steep four to five foot seas. The weather was cloudy, visibility moderate and a strong south-westerly breeze, force 6, was blowing, gusting at times to gale force 8. Continually the lifeboat was shipping seas and spray over the canopy.

At 1432 the lifeboat reached the windsurfer; he was lying on his board, exhausted, about 300 feet to the north west of the stone jetty. The wind was as strong as before and the sea still rough.

A west-south-westerly tidal stream made for wind over tide and the waves were short, steep and confused by their reflection off the stone jetty.

Mark Baxter brought the lifeboat up short of the casualty and, having assessed the state of the sea, chose his moment to drive alongside the sailboard.

Crew Member David Willacy grabbed the man and pulled him into the lifeboat. Conditions were such that to tow or carry the board and sail would have hampered the rescue, so it was left to drift. (Full details of the board were given to Liverpool coastguard in case the wreckage was later spotted by another vessel and the alarm raised.) The lifeboat then continued on past the board until her helmsman could take advantage of the seas to turn through 180° and head back to station.

Although Helmsman Baxter needed to pay careful attention to the short, steep following seas on his return, the shore was reached without incident. Thanks to the buoyancy aid and wet suit worn by the wind-surfer, he did not require treatment and although an ambulance had been called to the slipway when the man was landed at 1437, it was not needed.

Recovery of the lifeboat had to be delayed because of the rough conditions at the slipway but by 1635 she was back in the boathouse, ready once more for service.

Framed letters of thanks signed by the Duke of Atholl, chairman of the RNLI, were sent, following this service, to Helmsman Mark Baxter and Crew Member David Willacy.

West Division Dinghy adrift MOELFRE'S 16ft D class inflatable lifeboat launched at 1250 on Tuesday August 20, 1985, after Holyhead coastguard reported that two divers who were working on the 100-year-old wreck of the Royal Charter were beingblown out to sea in their inflatable dinghy after its engine had broken down.

The sea was rough at the time, visibility moderate and the wind was blowing near gale force 7 to gale force 8 from the south south west. It took six minutes for the lifeboat, manned by Helmsman Roy Thomas and Crew Members Christopher Jones and Alun Davies, to find the drifting dinghy. The divers were both in poor shape and quite scared when the lifeboat reached them as they were being blown very fast through a rough sea.

They were taken aboard the lifeboat and the dinghy was towed to the shore where the two survivors were landed at 1315. The lifeboat then headed back to Moelfre where she was rehoused, ready again for service at 1323.

Cdr Bruce Cairns, chief of operations, sent a letter of appreciation to Helmsman Roy Thomas and Crew Members Christopher Jones and Alun Davies following this service.

East Division Search for divers THE SUPPORT BOAT of a party of divers contacted the coastguard at 1355 on the afternoon of Sunday September 15, 1985, to say that two of their divers had not surfaced from their diving on the wreck of ss Teddington, about two miles north of Overstrand. Their airsupply had expired over an hour earlier.

The coastguard informed Cromer lifeboat station and at 1400 the 46ft 9in Watson class relief lifeboat, Guy and Clare Hunter, on temporary duty at Cromer, launched from the slipway and at the same time the station's 16ft D class inflatable lifeboat put to sea to help with the search. An RAF helicopter had also been called out together with the inflatable rescue boat at Mundesley.

A strong south-westerly breeze was blowing in the area of the search with a moderate sea running and Second Coxswain William Davies, at the helm of Cromer lifeboat and acting as on-scene commander, decided to ask Sheringham lifeboat to launch. The coastguard were also arranging for divers to search the wreck in case the missing people were trapped under water.

At 1447 Sheringham's 37ft Oakley class lifeboat, Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, left the beach with Coxswain John West at the helm. There was a very strong ebb tide running and the lifeboat began an offshore search along the line that the tide was likely to have swept the missing divers.

At 1505, when Sheringham lifeboat was two miles north of West Runton, Crew Member Donald Little caught sight of two heads in the water, about 300 yards away from the lifeboat. Coxswain West steered up wind of them and then lines were thrown to the two divers who were finally helped with some difficulty up the scrambling net and into the lifeboat.

The weather made it unsuitable to transfer the survivors to the helicopter at sea so the lifeboat was beached at Sheringham and the helicopter, having landed on the sands, took the divers, a man and a woman, to hospital at Gorleston. The lifeboat was rehoused, ready again for service at 1615 and Cromer's lifeboats, having been told that the divers were safe, returned to station at 1555.

Following these services, letters of thanks, signed by the chief of operations, Cdr Bruce Cairns, were sent to Second Coxswain William Davies of Cromer and Coxswain John West of Sheringham..