Deep water 'rocks' sink yacht Donaghadee Ireland Division Donaghadee's Arun class lifeboat City of Belfast was called to an unusual incident on 2 July 1988 when a Mayday call was heard from a sinking yacht at 0115.

The call was from a yacht which reported that she had hit 'rocks' 12 miles north of the Maidens, in an area where there is more than 100m of water.

Minutes later HMS Battleaxe responded to a relay of the Mayday by Clyde MRCC and, as she was only two miles from the incident, she set off for the casualty.

Half-an-hour later Battleaxe had a boat alongside the four survivors' liferaft - the yacht having sunk in the meantime - and they were taken aboard the warship for medical attention.

Just less than an hour later, at 0240, the Arun arrived after a 20 mile passage, and the survivors were transferred to her and landed safely at Larne by 0333.

The explanation for the deep water 'rocks' was later found to be connected with the legend 'Submarine Exercise Area' on the chart - the yacht was believed to have collided with the periscope of a submarine.

Lymington South East Division Following the service to a yacht aground on the Shingles Bank, featured in the Autumn issue, the chairman of the RNLI has sent a letter of thanks to helmsman Alan Coster, and Crew Member Michael Crowe who was put aboard the yacht and sailed her to safety.

Crew Member Nicholas Hay ward received a letter of appreciation from the Director of the Institution for the same service.Lifeboat called to mystery grounding Lerwick - Scotland North Division Lerwick's Arun class Soldian is pictured preparing to come alongside the oil rig standby vessel Seaborne Intrepid following a mysterious grounding on 6 July 1987.

The ship had run aground at the base of high cliffs at The Ord on Bressay Island, Shetlands in a light wind with visibility between one and two miles.

Holed Although holed, and with a reported five feet of water in the engine room, the crew had not raised the alarm. A small diving launch spotted her predicament and contacted Shetland Coastguard.

The lifeboat was launched and under way at 1924, and on her way to the scene of the incident passed a damaged inflatable with 10 people on board. The inflatable was from the casualty, and after checking numbers it was discovered the skipper was still aboard the Seaborne Intrepid.

When the lifeboat reached the vessel at 1933 a crew member was put aboard, but could not find the captain on the bridge. The lifeboat put another crew member aboard, and after a search found the captain asleep in his cabin. He was advised to leave, and the lifeboat came in once again to take the two lifeboat crew and the vessel's master off before returning to Lerwick.

A Department of Trade inquiry into the grounding is expected.WAVENEY TOWS LEAKING YACHT 30 MILES INTO TEETH OF WEATHER Two saved after ten-hour service in south westerly gale Great Yarmouth and Gorleston's Waveney class lifeboatBarham was involved in an arduous, ten-hour service to a yacht on 10 July 1988. The service, in gale force conditions, has been commended by the chief of operations in a letter to the station.

First news of the casualty was received at 1940, when Great Yarmouth Coastguard reported that the auxiliary yacht Viking was leaking and suffering from engine trouble five miles NE of the Smiths Knoll Lightvessel, some 32 miles from the station.

The 44ft Waveney class Barham was launched at 1945, with the wind around Force 4 from the south west, and after passing through Yarmouth Roads and Caister Roads to the North Scroby buoy set a course Great Yarmouth and Gorleston - East Division just north of west towards the yacht's position.

The lifeboat took more than two-and-ahalf hours to reach the casualty, the wind steadily increasing from the south west as she neared the yacht.

Regular updates on the casualty's position were received from Great Yarmouth Coastguard, until the yacht came in range of the lifeboat's VHF radio direction finder.

This confirmed the course and at 2221, just before dark, the lifeboat reached the yacht.

The wind was now Force 7 to 8, and the seas rough.

One of the yacht's two crew members was transferred to the lifeboat, and a tow line passed and secured at 2300 ready for the long tow back to Great Yarmouth.

Heading into the gale force wind and rough sea the tow home was a slow one, and it was not until 0400, when the lifeboat reached the lee of the land, that she was able to increase speed slightly.

Finally, at 0530, Barham and her casualty reached Great Yarmouth where the yacht was moored in the harbour and the lifeboat returned to her berth at 0545.POWERBOAT RACE CASUALTIES Anticipatory launch ends in eight calls on two lifeboats Eastbourne South East Division Both of Eastbourne's lifeboats were launched in anticipation of problems on 17 July 1988, when freshening conditions on the day of the London to Brighton powerboat race began to cause trouble.

The two lifeboats were later involved in a large number of incidents during a five-hour period, and the chief of operations of the RNLI has commended both crews for their action, and Coxswain Graham Cole of the station's Rother class lifeboat for instigating the launches.

At 1600 Coxswain Cole telephoned the • station honorary secretary to say that powerboats passing Eastbourne towards Beachy Head were thought to be in difficulty, as the wind had freshened to Force 5 or 6 from the SW, kicking up quite a rough sea particularly in the overfalls off Beachy Head.

The lifeboat had not been requested by the Coastguard, but the coxswain asked that both boats be launched 'on exercise' as a precaution.

Stand-by The crews were assembled by telephone, although many of them were already at the station in expectation of a launch, and at 1622 the 37ft 6in Rother Duke of Kent was launched, followed by the D class inflatable Humphry and Nora Tollemache.

The inflatable stood by a mile offshore in Eastbourne Bay, and the Rother headed for a stand-by position off Beachy Head, reporting to the coastguard at 1655 that she was in position about half a mile off the ledge and that conditions were rough, with a 1 Oft sea in the overfalls as the ebb ran over the ledge.

Within minutes of arriving at their standby positions both lifeboats were in action.

At 1700 the inflatable was asked to assist a windsurfer, who subsequently made the shore unaided, and then asked to check for a runabout in the bay. The boat was later reported safe in Newhaven, so the D class returned to her stand-by position.

Meanwhile at 1702 the Rother had been called to a competitor in the London to Brighton race which was in difficulty slightlywest of Birling Gap. Reaching the casualty at 1724 she discovered that the boat was aground, but that the occupants were safely ashore with the coastguard.

Less than five minutes later another boat from the race was reported in a sinking condition five miles west of Beachy Head, but as Duke of Kent headed for the position given she spotted yet another of the competitors in difficulty and requiring assistance.

Coxswain Cole immediately asked for the Newhaven lifeboat to be launched to the boat off Beachy Head, and went to the assistance of the new casualty, which had lost the use of one outboard engine. Although the second engine was still running the reduced speed meant she was shipping water, and the crew asked to be escorted to Newhaven.

Scurrying Newhaven's Arun Keith Anderson had been launched and was towing the Beachy Head casualty back to station, so coxswain Cole asked if she would also take over the escort of the latest racing boat to fall foul of the conditions and take her to the same harbour.

While the offshore boat had been scurrying between incidents the inflatable had also been busy. No sooner had she regained the stand-by position after the first two calls than the crew spotted a yacht in a dangerous position off Cow Gap.

Manoeuvring alongside they informed the skipper of his position, only to be told that he was looking for Eastbourne harbour. The crew were able to tell him that it had not been built yet, and escorted the yacht to a safe anchorage off Eastbourne.

The D class then returned to station - unaware that they would shortly be launching again to help with one of the Rother's casualties.

Meanwhile a fourth competitor in the powerboat race had been reported missing andDuke of Kent headed for Beachy Head to start a search.

Soon afterwards the boat was reported in the vicinity of Newhaven, and then at 1816 confirmed as off Coodon - some 12 miles from the Rother's position.

Exhausted The lifeboat's ETA at the casualty was 1945, but as the race boat was out of fuel and anchored, and not in immediate danger there was no need to launch the Hastings lifeboat which could have reached her sooner.

Duke of Kent reached the boat at 1942 to find her crew in an exhausted state and one with a knee injury. They could not raise her anchor so it was buoyed with one of the lifeboat's fenders and slipped.

The weather had moderated slightly and so Duke of Kent was able to tow the race boat at full speed back to Eastbourne - earlier suggestions of beaching the casualty were rejected because of the unnecessary damage this would have caused to her propellers and shafts.

When the lifeboat and her tow reached Eastbourne the D class was launched again to lay an anchor, and the race boat was made fast on this at 2055. By 2105 the lifeboat was returned to station and the injured survivor taken to hospital by ambulance.

During the five hours the lifeboats had been on service Duke of Kent had rendered assistance to four of the racing boats and the inflatable Humphry and Nora Tollemache had attended a sailboard, a powerboat and a yacht - a total of eight calls.30-mile tow to safety for yacht adrift among rigs The rescue of two people from a yacht kept Cromer's Tyne class lifeboat at sea for 12 hours in winds of up to Force 9 on 28 September 1988. More than nine hours were spent towing the casualty to safety in very severe weather.

Great Yarmouth Coastguard contacted the lifeboat station at 0030 with the first news of a yacht in trouble.

The husband and wife crew of the 27ft yacht Phaedra were at sea in Force 8 to 9 winds, had no idea of their position and had lost electrical power.The skipper had managed to connect a car battery to the VHP radio in order to contact the coastguard, who had obtained a bearing on the transmission.

This put the yacht near the Vulcan and Leman gas field, and an 'all-ships' radio call resulted in the rig stand-by vessel Desirade spotting a flare fired by Phaedra at the coastguard's request.

The casualty was 30 miles NE of Cromer, and the station's Tyne class Ruby and Arthur Reed II was under way just seven minutes after the coastguard's call.

Although the wind was Force 8 to 9 its westerly direction meant that the seas off the station were only moderate, although they increased rapidly 4 to 5 miles offshore and continued to increase all the way out to the casualty.

Shallow Further rig support vessels, Stout Truck and Vulcan Service, had now come to the aid of the yacht and were standing by her as she drifted in the severe weather.

By 0100 the yacht's position was updated - she had now drifted into an area of shallow sand banks, and Stout Truck reported that she was unable to stay close to the casualty because of the shallows.

The lifeboat was forced to take short cuts over the sand banks which litter the area, taking her into very broken water. Coxswain Richard Davies reported later that the lifeboat 'handled well' in what must have been atrocious conditions, but the sea state (20ft Cromer - East Division to 25ft at the casualty's position) meant that waves were coming aboard the lifeboat, eventually putting her main VHF radio out of action at 0125.

The VHF direction finder was still in operation, but, as the yacht's jury-rigged system was giving a limited range, communication had to be via Stout Truck, which gave a countdown so that a current bearing could be taken.

Extreme Eventually the lifeboat came into radio range of the casualty, and the portable VHF enabled direct communication to be established.

At 0230 the yacht was located, going round in circles with all sails set. At the coxswain's request the crew lowered the sails and, with Stout Truck using her lights to illuminate the scene, a tow was passed successfully despite the sea state.

Because of the extreme weather and the height of the waves it was impossible to put a lifeboat crew member aboard Phaedra, or to take her two-man crew off.

They had been at sea for three days and were not well, the skipper saying later they were exhausted and hallucinating, but the only course of action was to ask them to go below, batten down and prepare for the long tow to safety.

Because of the conditions coxswain Davies decided the only possible course was southerly, towards Bacton, and the lifeboat set her course in this direction.

With 20ft to 25ft seas running the tow was very slow, the lifeboat making only a knot or so and the casualty making heavy weather of the conditions.

The tow commenced at 0300, and for seven hours the lifeboat crew battled slowly south through the gale until at 1000 they were under the lee of the land and conditions began to improve.

With no radio contact with the yacht it was decided to put a crew member aboard Phaedra, and then to increase the speed of the tow.

-After a further two-and-a-half hours at increased speed the lifeboat and the casualty finally reached the shelter of Great Yarmouth, and put the yacht alongside at 1230.

The conditions would have prevented the lifeboat from being retrieved safely at Cromer, so she was left at Great Yarmouth and the crew returned to the station by road.

The crew of Phaedra were unhurt, although the skipper, Graham Wood, told a local newspaper 'I knew that if we hadn't called the coastguard we wouldn't have seen the morning.' He added, 'the lifeboat boys were brilliant, really superb.' The weather did not relent enough to allow Ruby and Arthur Reed II to return to her own station until 1 October - when she was rehoused by 1815, only to launch on service again fifteen minutes later...On trials...

but on service Baltic Exchange II, a brand new Tyne carrying out engine trials before going on station at Salcombe, came to the aid of Ramsgate's harbourmaster on Saturday 30 July.

The harbourmaster, and RNLI deputy launching authority, Geoffrey Grieve was about a quarter of a mile offshore observing an Old Gaffers Rally when trouble struck the steering gear and the brand new launch began to sink.

Fortunately So We Exchange II was nearby on trials, and she was able to take off the crew, including the local newspaper photographer who took the photograph, and tow the launch back into the harbour.

(Photo Isle of Thanet Picture Agency)MAJOR EMERGENCY IN POOLE HARBOUR Casualties as pleasure boat collides with landing craft Poole's 33ft Brede and Boston Whaler lifeboats were called to a major emergency inside Poole Harbour on 26 June 1988.

Maid of the Harbour, a large pleasure craft which carries passengers on trips around the huge natural harbour, had collided with an anchored Royal Marine landing craft, and the resulting rescue of the 73 people aboard earned the station and the crews a letter of thanks from the chief of operations.Poole The crews of both boats were alerted by their bleepers at 1825, and the Brede Inner Wheel and the Boston Whaler Sam and Iris Coles were launched within ten minutes.

Conditions inside the harbour were smooth with good visibility, and the casualty was less than three miles away from the station in the relatively narrow channel leading up to the town of Wareham.

In view of the conditions and the nature of the incident the Brede took all available hands in the certain knowledge that they would be needed on board the casualty.

Other emergency services had been alerted, including police, ambulance and SAR helicopters, and reports indicated that there were a large number of injuries.

Ambulance It took the Whaler just nine minutes to reach the scene, including transferring the Brede's senior First Aider and litter aboard, and on arrival two additional First Aiders were put aboard the casualty to help with the injured - where they treated casualties with head injuries and a broken leg before passing them into the care of the ambulancemen who had arrived by road.

Inner Wheel arrived at the scene five minutes after the Whaler, and quickly passed a South East Division tow line to keep Maid of the Harbour clear of a second landing craft, on to which she was in danger of drifting.

Once clear of the second landing craft Coxswain Ide turned Maid of the Harbour and brought her alongside the Brede for the short trip ashore.

Shaken 'I was mindful that the people on board were very shaken, and many were distressed,' he said later, 'so further bumps were undesirable to say the least.' In the event Maid of the Harbour, a very large and heavy boat, was put alongside a nearby pier without the slightest touch, and all hands helped the passengers ashore to buses and ambulances. Several lifeboat helpers had come to the scene by road, and they also assisted the shocked survivors of the incident.

The coastguard had been co-ordinating matters ashore and after checking with them that the lifeboats were no longer needed Inner Wheel and Sam and Iris Coles left the scene at 1940 and were back at station by 2010.Bully for Kirkwall! Kirkwall Scotland North Division RNLI lorry driver George Dadson became part of an unusual lifeboat crew at Kirkwall in the middle of October.

George had arrived at the station with his 17-ton truck to collect a boarding boat, which was hanging from the crane waiting for him.

While George, coxswain James Mitchell and mechanic Dupre Strutt discussed the best way to load the boat a commotion announced the arrival of a large, and unaccompanied bull.

The beast charged on to the quayside, and leapt over the edge, dropping 20ft into the harbour and setting off out to sea at a rate of knots.

Recovering from their surprise the three decided that the creature could be considered in distress, and abandoned all thoughts of loading the boat on the lorry.

Instead they hastily launched it again, and, armed with a rope grabbed from the lorry, the impromptu RNLI crew set off after the bull, which by now had cleared the harbour entrance and seemed intent on reaching the Shetlands under its own steam.

After the maritime equivalent of a wild west round-up the bull was lassoed, and towed back to the nearest land, where, with a bellow of disapproval, it clambered ashore and stood, says George,'looking surprised'.

A posse of local dock workers arrived to finish off the great Kirkwall round-up, armed with a cage mounted on a forklift truck.

The bull did finally make it out to sea - by ferry that evening.Three yachtsmen saved from Buxey Sands in heavy weather The crew of Clacton's relief Atlantic 21 and Walton and Frinton's Solent lifeboats have received letters of thanks from the RNLI's chief of operations following a joint service to a yacht aground in heavy weather on the Buxey Sands, off the river Crouch.

The chief of operations concluded that Tt is always a pleasure to hear about adjacent stations working alongside each other to achieve a successful conclusion to the mission' in addition to praising the way in which the Clacton crew had handled a very difficult situation.

At 1949 on Tuesday, 5 April 1988 Thames Coastguard had reported to the Clacton station honorary secretary that a yacht, Westwind of Stour, was aground on the Buxey Sands and bumping badly in the NE Force 5 wind. There were three people on board, and assistance had been requested.

Clacton and Walton and Frinton South East Division It was decided to launch Clacton's Atlantic 21 as soon as possible and, in view of the weather conditions and darkness, to request the launch of the Walton and Frinton Solent City ofBirmingham to provide back-up cover.

The lifeboats launched almost simultaneously at 2010 in poor visibility, due to rain squalls, and moderate to rough seas kicked up by the NE wind.Walton crew wins 'best cuppa' award! Following another service involving the rescue of six people from the yacht Dunkit in August the crew of the Walton and Frinton lifeboat received a thankyou letter from one of the couples involved.

In addition to a donation to the station funds Karen and Len Herbert also sent some teaspoons, to be passed on to 'Jim the Engineer' (Jim Berry) who, Karen said, 'makes the best cup of tea I've ever tasted!' The Atlantic was first on the scene of the casualty after a rough 18-minute passage.

She found the yacht aground at an angle of heel and bumping severely in the very rough seas and shallow waters of the sands.

There was enough water to allow the Atlantic to approach the yacht, so helmsman Lee Bolingbroke decided to put a crew member aboard to assess the situation, and the condition of the three people aboard.

Aboard Crew member David Wells clambered aboard the yacht, which was moving violently, and finding the crew uninjured decided to lay out a kedge to prevent the yacht being driven further ashore on the flooding tide. The task was far from easy in the dark, on board a strange vessel and with the violent motion, but the anchor was rigged, passed to the lifeboat and laid out to seaward by 2110.

With the anchor in place the Atlantic took off the yacht's skipper and crew. The crew were cold, wet and seasick and asked to be taken ashore as soon as possible, but the skipper asked to be put aboard the Walton and Frinton lifeboat in case an attempt was made to tow his vessel off.

So, at 2134 the two lifeboats rendezvoused to transfer the skipper to City of Birmingham, before the Atlantic set off for her home station.

The passage back to Clacton was a rough one, as the lifeboat was heading into the weather, and took until 2230. The crew were given dry clothing and warm drinks before being driven home by a crew member who had helped with the launch and recovery.

Recovered Meanwhile City of Birmingham had approached as close as possible to Westwind of Stour, but coxswain Kemp decided that nothing further could be done because of the shallow water and heavy surf on the Sands and returned to station at Walton.

The lifeboat was back on her moorings at 2330, and refuelled and ready for service again by 0005.

Westwind of Stour was later recovered from the Buxey and towed to West Mersea by a private boat, owned by one of the West Mersea lifeboat crew members.Inflatable searches in 'huge' surf on Cornish coastBude's D class lifeboat often has to launch through heavy surf, but a service on 3 July in exceptional conditions has brought the helmsman Paddy Frost and crew members Jonathan Ball, Keith Marshall and Kevin Dunster special thanks in a letter from the chief of operations.

A call from Hartland Coastguard at 1700, reporting that four surfers were in trouble in heavy surf at Widemouth Bay, was the first indication of the service.

Rollers Although the wind was only Force 2 to 3 the beach at Bude is open to the full force of the Atlantic rollers, and the sea state at the time of launching was reported as ' 7' - with a huge surf reaching more than 20ft high.

Conditions were near the limit for the D class, but she was launched immediately and was at the scene in less than ten minutes, where she began searching in the surf.

Three people had been brought ashore by lifeguards, but the crew of a helicopter from RAF Chivenor, which had also been scrambled, spotted a wet-suit clad body in the surf.

They recovered the fourth casualty soon after the lifeboat's arrival and took him ashore before rushing him to Barnstaple Hospital, where he was found to have died.

The crew of the D class contacted the coastguard mobile ashore, to check whether any other casualties were still in the water, and she was asked to remain on stand-by. At her position, a mile offshore, the surf was still around 20ft, and breaking.

At 1722 it was established that there were no further casualties, and the lifeboat was given the all-clear by the coastguard mobile at 1722, enabling her to return to station through the huge breakers.SEVEN-HOUR SERVICE IN GALE-FORCE WINDS FOR RELIEF ARUN Lifeboat aids disabled yacht and sinking trawler in southerly gale Howth - Ireland Division A service which started as a short call to search for an overdue sailing dinghy, and which was cancelled almost immediately when the dinghy was located, eventually turned into a long night afloat for Howth's relief Arun Margaret Russell Fraser.

Two further calls took her south-east, and then north-east of the station helping a disabled yacht and a sinking trawler.

Alert The alert for the dinghy, which was overdue at Balbriggan some nine miles north of the station, had been raised at 2003 on Saturday 9 July by the Skerries Light.

The lifeboat had left her moorings in poor 52 weather at 2012, with a southerly gale and rough seas, but the dinghy was soon found and the call cancelled Difficulties As the Arun was reluming to her station a radio message was received from a yacht, indicating that a second yacht appeared to be in difficulties off Baily Lighthouse, two miles south-east of the station.

Changing course towards the new casualty the lifeboat found the yacht Birgitz with four people aboard anchored near the lighthouse, having lost her rudder. Conditions were poor, with a southerly Force 6 to 8 kicking up an 8ft to 10ft sea.

The yacht and her crew were taken in tow, and secured alongside in Howth at 2055.

No sooner had the crew made the yacht fast than another call was received, this time from the trawler Christmas Tide, reporting that she had the trawler Riki Pia in tow some 16 miles to the north-east of the station.

There was a crew of five aboard the casualty, which was taking water, and Christmas Tide's crew were afraid that Riki Pia might sink before reaching port.

Pump Margaret Russell Fraser left Howth again immediately, and came up with the two trawlers within an hour, in the same poor conditions, gale force winds and heavy seas.

By putting a pump aboard, and starting it immediately the trawler was kept afloat while the Arun escorted the two boats as far as the Skerries, where, at 0130, she took over the tow and put Riki Pia alongside the pier The fire brigade took over the task of pumping to keep the trawler afloat, and the Arun was able to return to her moorings and be readied for service again by 0340..