LIFEBOAT BUMPS OVER SAND TO STRANDED YACHT Four saved from yacht aground in heavy sea and swell A service by the Walton and Frinton lifeboat to a yacht aground with four people on board has earned the coxswain a letter of thanks from the Institution's chairman. The other members of the crew have received a letter from the director expressing his thanks for their part in the service, as have the station's honorary secretary and his wife, who provided comfort for the yacht's crew after their ordeal.

At 01 19 on Saturday 14 July 1990 Philip Oxley, the honorary secretary of Walton and Frinton lifeboat station, heard from Thames Coastguard that the 32ft yacht Minstrel Boy was aground on the Gunfleet Sand and bumping heavily.

An immediate launch was authorised and at 0139 the Solent class lifeboat Lady Mac- Robert, on relief duty at the station, slipped her mooring under the command of Coxswain Robert Kemp in an ENE wind of Force 5 to 6 and 8 mile visibility. VHP communication was established with the casualty, and at 0157 a VHP DP bearing was obtained.

Pounding The Harwich pilot boat Progress was standing by but was unable to close the casualty because of the shoal water.

At 0221 the coxswain reported that Lady MacRohen was on scene and that Minstrel Boy. with four people on board, had been driven on to the sands and was pounding heavily in a steep, breaking sea and heavy ground swell. The wind was ENE Force 5 to 6, gusting 7.

Flares fired by the lifeboat allowed the coxswain to see that the yacht was in very shallow water, and he was forced to bump the lifeboat across the sand for some oneand- a-half cables.

Without enough depth of water to manoeuvre the coxswain ran the lifeboat in close to the yacht's starboard side, taking several attempts as the lifeboat bumped heavily in the broken water. The lifeboat was brought close, only to be knocked away by the swell. On the second attempt the second coxswain hooked a grapnel on a dinghy on the yacht's foredeck and the boats were secured together.

The four people aboard the yacht appeared to be in a state of shock, and had to be persuaded and then virtually manhandled aboard the lifeboat. At one point the yacht was lifted by the seas and struck Lady MacRohen's forward cabin with her stem.

The yacht's skipper was very reluctant to leave, and when he did his lifeline was still attached to a shroud. The lifeboat crew pushed him back aboard to prevent him being crushed between the boats and he was brought aboard at the second attempt.

At 0227 the lifeboat was able to report that all survivors were on board, and as conditions were not suitable for towing the grapnel was cut away and the coxswain came astern into deeper water before turning to clear the sandbank.

At 0234 course was set for Tichmarsh marina and the survivors, who were suffering from cold, shock and seasickness, were tended. The lifeboat was met by the station honorary secretary, and by 0355 the lifeboat was alongside and the survivors taken to his home where they were given hot baths, food and drinks.

Lady MacRobert was made ready for sea, but it was decided to remain at the marina because of stress of weather, and to check a minor fault on the radar, caused by the heavy bumping on the sands.

At 0716 the Coastguard reported the yacht was adrift and the lifeboat towed her to the marina before returning to her pier mooring at 1100. LONG TOW IN HEAVY WEATHER Crew transferred to casualty in near-gale conditions The chief of operations has written to Bembridge lifeboat station commending the coxswain and crew for their efforts during a five-hour service in rough conditions on 14 July 1990.

The Coastguard had informed the station at 0950 that a 30ft ketch, Jenny Wren, was meeting adverse conditions 23 miles south of the Nab Tower. The two people aboard were seasick and exhausted after 24 hours at sea. As a result the Tyne class lifeboat Max Aitken III was launched at 1000 into a strong easterly breeze and rough seas, reaching the casualty at 1107.

The crew of the yacht were too exhausted to lower the sails or heave-to and in the difficult sea conditions, with the Force 6 to 7 wind over the tide, the second coxswain decided not to risk damage or injury by going alongside and asked a helicopter which was on the scene to lift two members of the lifeboat crew on to the casualty.

The two men, Colin Smith and Alan Attrill, suffered heavy bruising as they boarded the yacht in the rough conditions, but once aboard they were able to lower the sails and bring the yacht under control ready to establish a tow. The owner of the yacht and his crew asked to be taken off, and the helicopter lifted them aboard and transferred them both to the shore.

A towline was passed to the yacht and she was taken to Bembridge Harbour, a passage of almost three hours in very rough conditions.

The casualty was secured alongside at 1445, but the sea conditions precluded rehousing the lifeboat, so she remained in the harbour until early the following morning.

The owner of the yacht made a generous donation to branch funds and to the crew in appreciation of this service. Three swimmers rescued The rescue of a swimmer and two earned the helmsman and crew of lifeguards who had gone to his aid has Sunderland's D class lifeboat and two shore helpers a letter of thanks from the RNLI's chief of operations.

The incident began at 1301 on 14 July 1990 when the Coastguard informed the honorary secretary that a swimmer was in difficulties three-quarters of a mile north of the station, off the Cat and Dog Steps.

The lifeboat immediately launched in a strong SSE breeze and rough seas, arriving on the scene at 1306 to find a lifeguard who had swam after the swimmer. Crew member Ian Brown went into the water to support the man while the lifeboat moved on to the swimmer, who had been seen close by. Crew member John Walls entered the water to help the exhausted swimmer into the lifeboat, which then returned to collect crew member Brown and the lifeguard. An ambulance was requested as both casualties were suffering from exposure.

As the lifeboat was returning to station the Coastguard reported a third person in the water, but kept losing sight of him. The lifeboat immediately went to the area and sighted another lifeguard almost completely submerged in heavy surf.

Crew member Walls again entered the water to help this man, who was showing little sign of life, into the lifeboat. Resuscitation commenced and helmsman William Young made best possible speed to the beach.

Shore helpers Gerard McGill and Martin Cox ran to meet the lifeboat and lifted the unconscious lifeguard on to the beach. He was not breathing and no pulse was evident but Mr McGill and Mr Cox, assisted by two beach helpers, continued resuscitation and heart massage until the ambulance arrived, by which time a weak pulse was detected.

All three casualties were taken to hospital and the lifeboat returned to station at 1415. CONFUSION OVER CASUALTY'S POSITION Five hour search for yacht after Mayday broadcast The chief of operations has written to the Commissioners of Irish Lights thanking the keeper and crew of the Kish Bank lighthouse for their assistance during a five-hour search for a yacht in difficulties. Without their help it might have been difficult to have brought the search to a successful conclusion, as all radio messages had to be relayed via the lighthouse. It was at 0010 on 6 August 1990 that the honorary secretary at Dun Laoghaire station was first informed that a yacht called Splash had transmitted a 'Pan-Pan' message that she had engine failure and was drifting northwards in very rough seas three miles from Dun Laoghairc and required assistance. The wind was Force 5 to 6 from the north-west.

The station's Waveney class Lad of Lancashire was launched but could find no sign of the yacht. From then on communication with her proved impossible, or at best very difficult, and could only be carried out via the Kish Bank lighthouse, about 6 miles offshore to the east of the station.

Conflicting The yacht continued to give conflicting information as to which 'lights' she could see. and her bearine and distance. Further- more, the Kish lighthouse keepers could see the lights of the lifeboat as she searched, but not the yacht's.

A passing yacht managed to raise Splash, with very poor reception, but by 0122 neither Kish lighthouse nor the second yacht could receive her. However, ten minutes later the Irish Lights vessel Granuaille anchored off the Skerries, more than 15 miles to the north of the search area, picked up Splash's transmissions, and the lifeboat crew began to think that the crew of Splash may have misunderstood her position and the lights which she could see. Perhaps she was to the north and not, as she thought, south and east of the station.

Howth lifeboat was launched to search the area to the north, but as soon as she was afloat she too could not receive Splash.

At 0232 a phone number was obtained from Splash, with some difficulty, and when this proved negative the call-out began to look like a very elaborate hoax.

However, the coxswain continued the search, keeping in touch with the yacht via the Kish Bank light. White flares were fired to see if Splash could see them, but to no avail.

A call from Holyhead coastguard, on the far side of the Irish sea, then suggested that the yacht was on a bearing which would put her further north, but a further telephone number was then obtained. This connected with the owner's wife and family, who were expecting the yacht at 2300 that evening from Holyhead, to which she had sailed the previous day.

Bearing Using what information the coxswain could get via the Kish, and asking for continual transmissions on VHP, he finally managed to obtain a bearing with the radio direction finder. At 0452 the yacht's skipper said he was near the East Codling Light, some ten miles SE of the original search area, but unfortunately this did not accord with the coxswain's radio bearing...

Finally, at 0503 visual contact was made, one mile NW of the West Codling Light, five miles inshore of the East Codling light and some ten miles to the south of the original reported position. The yacht was eventually taken in tow at 0514, more than five hours after the original alert, and the lifeboat and casualty returned to Dun Laoghaire, the tow taking nearly two and a half hours, to make fast at 0740. Six fishermen saved by crew member in open fishing boat Eamonn O'Leary, a member of Dun Laoghaire's All-weather lifeboat crew, has been awarded the Institution's Thanks inscribed on Vellum for a rescue which he carried out singlehanded in his own 18ft open boat. In his official report the divisional inspector of' Jifeboar.s for Ireland. Peter Bradley.

said: 'Mr O'Leary picked up six survivors from the waters of the Dalkey Sound, which are well known for strong currents and confused seas with wind over tide such as experienced here. His assessment of the situation and his subsequent actions to rescue the survivors, particularly his skill in handling his boat and his first aid treatment of the survivors, is worthy of note.' At about 1930 on 7 August 1990 Eamonn O'Leary was fishing from his boat just inside the southern edge of Dalkey Sound, south east of Dun Laoghaire lifeboat station, when he noticed that a smaller boat which had bee about three-quarters of a mile away, was r longer to be seen.

Although the wind was only SW Force the sea was choppy, with the wind across th sea and creating confused waves about 3f high.

Sensing that something was wrong, hi made for the position to find a capsized 15f open boat still made fast to her anchor. Twc people were clinging to the boat, and one of them indicated that four other people had become separated from the boat, among them a young boy. Exhausted The two clinging to the boat were in no immediate danger so O'Leary headed for the four others who could be seen in the water.

Two of them seemed to be supporting each other in the water and he moved on to the other pair, one of which was the young boy who was in some difficulty. O'Leary manoeuvred alongside the boy and lifted him into the boat and then picked up the second man, who was exhausted from keeping himself afloat - as none of the casualties were wearing lifejackets.

Returning to the other couple in the water he found one now unconscious and incapable of supporting himself. His companion shouted that the other had suffered a heart attack, and O'Leary quickly went alongside to lift the unconscious man aboard. The fourth man was then recovered, also very exhausted from supporting his friend.

The unconscious man had a very weak pulse and was breathing weakly so O'Leary made him as comfortable as possible in the bottom of his boat and returned in the direction of the capsized boat. On the way the engine stalled when the propeller fouled a leather jacket in the water, but this was quickly cleared by cutting it away.

When he reached the capsized dinghy O'Leary hauled the final two survivors aboard. By now the boat had only a few inches of freeboard and it took three attempts to get the last one on board, the boat shipping water as she listed heavily.

Alarm With all six now on board O'Leary checked their condition and concluded that all were exhausted and cold, and that one had probably suffered a heart attack.

With the flood tide behind him O'Leary headed for the nearest land, where he knew he would be able to raise the alarm.

Reaching Coliemore harbour at about 2030 he sent the strongest survivor to the public telephone to call an ambulance, which arrived some minutes later to take all six survivors to hospital in Dun Laoghaire, and then returned to harbour to report the rescue to the station honorary secretary. FOUR HOUR TOW IN HEAVY WEATHER Casualty taken in tow half-a-mile from rocks in on-shore gale The RNLI's chief of operations has written to the secretary of the Sennen Cove lifeboat station commending the coxswain and crew for their actions during a service to a disabled yacht in gale force winds.

At 1130 on 5 July 1990 the Coastguard notified the station of a Swissregistered yacht which had lost her steering about a mile north of Pendeen.

With the wind from the NNW at Force 7 to 8 and a high sea with a 1 Oft to 12ft swell the yacht, Koo-She, was off a very dangerous lee shore. Sennen Cove's Rother class Diana White launched just nine minutes later for the passage to the reported position, a little over five miles to the north of the station, and a helicopter was also scrambled.

Tow Although the helicopter arrived at the scene shortly before the lifeboat it did not take off any of the yacht's crew as the lifeboat was just minutes away, arriving on scene at 1205.

With the yacht now little more than a quarter-of-a-mile off the rocks a tow was quickly passed, and the lifeboat began to ease the casualty away to seaward. Because of the weather conditions it was necessary to head offshore to clear Land's End and the Runnel Stone and to pass Sennen Cove to find shelter from the westerly seas behind the land.

The only possible port of refuge in the conditions was Newlyn, and so Diana White towed Koo-She, with the four crew aboard, for four hours to the safety of the harbour there before returning immediately to Sennen.

Although conditions were very bad, with seas breaking over the harbour wall, the lifeboat was succesfully recovered and was ready for service again by 1805. INSHORE LIFEBOAT CAPSIZED IN HEAVY SURF Two lifeboats in search for car in tragic cliff-fall The RNLI's chairman, Michael Vemon, has written to the coxswain of Eastbourne's All-weather lifeboat commending him on his actions during a service on 23 June 1990. The helmsman of the station's Inshore lifeboat has received a letter of thanks from the chief of operations for his part in the same service. The operation began at 1316 on Saturday 23 June 1990 when Dover Coastguard alerted Eastbourne lifeboat station that a car had been seen at the bottom of a cliff one cable east of Beachy Head lighthouse, to the south west of the station.

The coastguard asked that the inshore lifeboat be launched to investigate whether the occupants, believed to be a woman and two children, had survived. At 1320Eastbourne's D class lifeboat was launched on service, and three minutes later the Rother class lifeboat Duke of Kent was also launched in support. The wind at the launch site was SSW Force 4 to 5, with a moderate swell.

The D class arrived at the scene some 12 minutes after launching, giving Beachy Head Ledge a wide berth in the heavy swell.

Surf An approach was made from the west, to run down-sea to the position of the car and veer in using the anchor, as the breaking surf was too rough for a beach landing.

After anchoring at the second attempt the lifeboat veered in to the shore towards the car, which was now awash .

Crew member Malcolm Hollobone swam ashore through the breaking surf to reconnoitre, and crew member John Hemingway followed, with a line to the stern of the D class to steady her in the surf, and was washed off his feet - allowing the slack line to foul the propeller.

The boat was hauled into deeper water to clear it, but a series of heavy waves broke into her and she swung beam-on to the surf and capsized in chest-deep water at about 1345.

Crew member Tony Hyland was under the boat as she capsized, but quickly extracted himself and was swept clear. Helmsman Tucker tried unsuccessfully to right the boat alone, so Crew member Malcolm Hollobone swam out to assist, despite being knocked back several times. Their joint attempts to right the boat were also unsuccessful.

The Rother class lifeboat Duke of Kent arrived off Beachy Head Ledge at 1345 Just as the inshore lifeboat capsized, and Coxswain/ Mechanic Graham Cole immediately decided to position the lifeboat where a rescue attempt could be made.

Duke of Kent was taken into 2.5m of water, some half-a-cable from the inshore lifeboat, and anchored by the stern to keep the propellers in deeper water, away from the rocks, The warp was led forward to the bow so she could be swung round to clear the area if necessary. A rocket line was also prepared.

While Coxswain Cole was waiting for the inshore lifeboat crew to reach the shore Duke of Kent touched the rocks, and he moved her into deeper water. The tide was ebbing quickly and the lifeboat's motion was severe, in winds now gusting to Force 7 with a heavy SSW swell and rough sea.

Damaged At approximately 1515 the inshore lifeboat was ready for recovery by the Rother, having been righted by her crew with the help of the Coastguard Cliff Rescue Team.

The outboard motor had been damaged on rocks and was unserviceable.

The Rother anchored again one-and-a-half cables from the shore in 2.5m of water and a rocket line fired to pass a line ashore.

Helmsman Tucker had prepared the D class for recovery from the beach and the line from the Rother was secured to her and, with Helmsman Tucker aboard, she was hauled seaward by the Rother and secured alongside.

Both lifeboats then returned to station, with the remainder of the inshore lifeboat crew returning by road, and recovered at 1603.

One of Duke of Kent's shafts and propeller were found to be slightly damaged, and the inshore lifeboat had suffered damage to her hull and bow boards. The engine had been severely damaged and a number of items of equipment were missing so a replacement was requested immediately.

The actions of Coxswain Cole in placing Duke of Kent into such shallow water in rough conditions were praised by all who witnessed the incident. His actions displayed an exemplary knowledge of local shoal waters, and by anchoring the lifeboat by the stern he minimised the likely damage in the heavy swell.

Sadly, the occupants of the car did not survive the fall. Dangerous gas on blazing fishing vessel Tynemouth's Arun class lifeboat George and Olive Turner was called to the aid of the fishing vessel Kalisto which caught fire on 15 September 1990.

The two crew had jumped overboard and been airlifted ashore, but reported there were gas and air bottles aboard which could explode. Lifeboat crew members Jimmy Griffiths and Stewart Brown, who went aboard the blazing vessel to extinguish the fire, later said it was one of the most dangerous calls they had been on.

They jettisoned the cylinders, which were recovered by Cullercoats inshore lifeboat, and brought the fire under control after about 20 minutes.

Kalisto was later towed back to port..