Mersey saves five despite loss of one engine When the remnants of Hurricane Lili swept up the Channel on 28 October it not only caused considerable damage ashore but also caught out a 90ft modern yacht, well-found and fitted with modern equipment. The night will be one which Coxswain Chris Haw will remember, for with one engine out of action and one crew member injured he and his crew managed to take five people off the yacht - earning him the Institution's Bronze Medal.The winds circling the depression which had once been Hurricane Lili had already had plenty of time to build up a massive sea when Portland Coastguard told Swanage lifeboat station of the plight of the 90ft Be Happy. She had broached twice and was taking in water through a shattered window, the hydraulic steering was failing and her electrics shorting out. She was now drifting in hurricane force winds 22 miles to the south of the station.

The station's own lifeboat was away for survey, so at 1945 the relief Mersey Lifetime Care launched and headed just east of south towards Be Happy's position. Ten minutes later she left the shelter of Anvil Point and met the full force of the weather. Heavy squalls driven by the Force 9 to 12 SSW wind reduced visibility to 100 yards and the swell was up to 25ft high.

A rescue helicopter arrived at the casualty at 2004, enabling the lifeboat crew to use their VHPdirection finding equipment to home in on Be Happy.

However, the conditions were beginning to tell on Lifetime Care. First the radar failed and then the starboard engine had to be shut down after losing its cooling water. She continued south at about 8 to 10 knots on one engine and with the help of the helicopter's searchlight was able to close in on the casualty at 2120. The yacht was trying to make to the north, but was being set rapidly to the east by the storm force winds and eastgoing tidal stream.

Be Happy's crew wanted to stay aboard, but Chris Haw told them that towing was not possible in the prevailing conditions,and after watching the yacht knocked down twice more at about 2137 he asked them again what their intentions were - adding that when the tide turned againstthe wind in about an hourand a half the seas would worsen, and make it very difficult to abandon the yacht.

The skipper decided that the time had come to abandon and .the lifeboat began to move in. Be Happy was heeling considerably in the 60-knot wind and rising and falling violently in the heavy seas. The lifeboat's starboard engine cooling system had been refilled and at the last minute it was restarted. With heavy fendering in place, five crew members on deck and the helicopter providing illumination Lifetime Care moved in. The casualty had the wind and seas on her port quarter and her four crew were ready at the starboard rails while her skipper stayed at the wheel until the last minute.

Chris Haw brought the lifeboat in under the leeward bow, knowing he had only one attempt before the starboard engine failed again, and the four people jumped. The two vessels were moving so violently that as they came together they rolled together, crushing the Mersey's rails inboard and injuring four of the lifeboat crew members - Chris Coe suffering a badly broken arm.

Shut down Theyacht skipper managed to free his harness and leap aboard, and as he clung to the radar support the coxswain brought the lifeboat hard astern and away from the casualty. The starboard engine had overheated after just two minutes, but only now could it be shut down.

The lifeboat hove-to while Chris Coe was given first aid, and at 2206 Lifetime Care was at last able to head north back towards Swanage. Such was the pasting that the Mersey was receiving that the Decca Navigator had now failed, so the helicopter escorted her as she headed home at about 7 knots.

The injured crew member could not be evacuated because of the conditions, and it was not until 0010 that the lifeboat was put alongside her slipway and Chris Coe and the survivors landed.

Fortuitously the station's own Mersey was ready for collection the following day, replacing the relief boat as she was withdrawn for repair.

Be Happy was last seen blowing off the leeward at about four knots, and subsequently went ashore on the Isle of Wight.

* See page 7 for comments by the skipper of the yacht Paul Fryer..