Three saved as trawler is destroyedThe coastline west of Port Oriel, on the east coast of Ireland, is extremely wild, with treacherous rocks to catch out the unwary sailor. So when the Clogher Head lifeboat was called out to a fishing trawler on 28 November 2000, the crew knew that it was not going to be an easy rescue.The March Sod had lost power and was adrift in Dundalk Bay in atrocious weather conditions. The lifeboat was launched quickly while the local Coastguard team tried to reach the stretch of coastline by land and a rescue helicopter was scrambled from Dublin. As the lifeboat made her way towards the casualty, the March Sod was driven onto the rocks and water started to flood in.

Padraig Rath, who was in charge of the radio, reassured the trawler's crew that the lifeboat was just minutes away and tried to help them remain calm, but as more water rushed into their vessel, they announced that they were going to try their luck in their liferaft. Padraig knew that they stood very little chance of escaping in a liferaft in such tempestuous seas and managed to persuade them to wait for the lifeboat to arrive.

Coxswain Noel Sharkey decided to try to place two of his crew on board March Sod with a salvage pump. They could then attempt to stem the influx of water while he towed the vessel to nearby Port Oriel. 'Before approaching the casualty for the first time, I was very concerned that the lifeboat may hit the rocks,' he recalled. This would have put my crew, and possibly the crew on the March Sod, in more danger.' The casualty was rolling violently in the waves as Noel edged the lifeboat through the outlying rocks. There was no way of seeing all the submerged obstructions but, thanks to Noel's remarkable knowledge of his local coastline, he was able to place the lifeboat alongside the casualty. Barry Faulkner and Sean Reilly quickly transferred to March Sod with the salvage pump and Noel then pulled back to a safe distance.

Barry and Sean managed to get the salvage pump working but it was not powerful enough to compete with the water pouring in. The violent rolling of the vessel made it impossible to keep the pump's pipe submerged and furtherexamination revealed that the trawler was so badly damaged that the pump would prove fruitless anyway. Her wooded hull was being smashed away by the rocks and the flow of water had become a torrent. It was time to abandon ship.

The rescue helicopter had arrived and stood by as Noel again took the lifeboat in amongst the rocks. As he pulled alongside the battered trawler, her crew were quickly transferred onto the lifeboat, followed by the salvage pump, Barry and Sean. As soon as everyone was safely on board, Noel headed for safety.

The crew were landed at Port Oriel, shaken but uninjured. By the following morning the March Sod had disappeared, completely destroyed by the turbulent seas.The Lifeboat Mersey class lifeboat QN-1190 Doris Bltasdale Budt 1992 Cost £650,000 Funding Bequest of Miss Doris Bleasdale of Lancaster The Crew Thanhs of the Institution on Vellum Coxswain Noel Sharfcey for his 'cairn demonstration of skillful seamanship and boathandling in effecting the successful rescue of three people in gale force conditions grounded in a hazardous location' Joined crew 1991 Second Coxswain 1996 Coxswain 1997 Occupation Fisherman Operations Director's Letter of Thanks and Vellum Service Certificates Deputy Second Coxswain/Mechanic Padraig Rath Second Coxswain Barry Faulkner Second Mechanic Sean Reilly Cfew Members Gerald Sharkey Ronan Faulkner Lisa Levins Jamas Byrne Clogher Head Lifeboat Station Established 1899 Previous Medals I all awarded before the establishment of an RNLI station) Gold 1839 Silver 1826, 1837. 1852U2) 15m fishing vesse1 March Sod Crew Three.