A flare for rescue in darknessWalmer lifeboat crew proved they are ready for anything 24/7 when they were paged at 2 o'clock one morning in mid-winter. The lives of two yachtsmen depended on the crew being wide awake and alert throughout the service It was nearly 2am on 15 December when Walmer's Phil Brenchley and Helmsman Andrew Coe were woken up by their pagers. By chance, Crew Member Adam Cowell was in a taxi near the station when he got the call. All three rushed to the station but were initially unaware that this would be a difficult service. It was only when Phil was putting on his kit that he realised it might be a 'rough one'.

He recalls that when the lifeboat station doors were opened: 'All of a sudden the wind blew straight in the door and I thought, oh my goodness, it's blowing hard.' A yacht with a crew of two had reportedly run aground on Goodwin Sands, on the eastern side of Trinity Bay.

The yacht had lost power and the men's lives were at risk. With no radio on board, the yachtsmen had relied on a mobile phone to call the Coastguard for help.

False start for lifeboat Walmer's Atlantic 21 James Burgess launched at 2.20am. They ploughed through the darkness in rough seas and winds of force 7. Shortly after launching Andrew noticed a loss of engine revs on the port engine. The engine cut out, was restarted and cut out again. Andrew recognised the symptoms as a fouled propeller. He used the starboard engine to keep the lifeboat head to sea, while Phil reached over, wrestling to cut the rope that was twisted round the prop. Waves hit Phil in the face, but he managed to cut the rope free.

Location, Location, location The yacht had lost power, so with no lights and no radio on board she was extremely difficult to locate. The Coastguard told the yacht's crew to fire a red parachute flare. The flares on theyacht were out-of-date, but the first one they tried thankfully worked.

On the Atlantic 21, Andrew's sharp eyes spotted the flare. The lifeboat's GPS (plotting system) was blocked out because of the weather, so Andrew quickly took a bearing from his compass. 'It was back to basics,' remembers Phil. Local knowledge as well as sound seamanship skills helped them judge where the yacht was. They estimated the yacht was about 3 miles away.

On their way, conditions restricted the Atlantic 2Ts speed to 10-12 knots (top speed 32 knots). The yachtsman tried two other flares. One misfired, but just as the lifeboat crested a wave Andrew caught sight of the last flare. Nearing the yacht the sea was confused, with the swell building to 4-5m. The lifeboat was pushed to the extreme and Andrew estimates they were tipped vertically two or three times.

The lifeboat crew knew the yacht was nearby, but they still couldn't see her until the yachtsmen shone a torch. Although conditions made it difficult to judge distance, the light was visibly closing.

Andrew monitored the depth of the water with the echo sounder as they closed on the yacht that was reportedly grounded.

At 2.45am the yacht was sighted about 20m away in a depth of over 10m. She was clearly not aground, but lying head to sea to her anchor. Andrew concluded that the yacht must have struck the Goodwin Sands quite hard but then luckily been bounced over the top by the weather.

Baptism of fire Andrew assessed the situation. He shouted to the two men on the yacht that he would put a crew member on board. Andrew knew it would be a difficult tow and decided Adam should make the jump, so Phil, an experienced seaman, could help on the lifeboat if necessary. Later Andrew praised the actions of Adarn who has only been a lifeboatman for a few years: 'As it was his first rough service, he did exceptionally well.' Andrew approached the yacht. With the help of the two experienced crew Adam jumped onto the yacht at the right time. He landed heavily: 'I rolled across the deck, ripping the aerial off the portable radio.' Adam was bruised, but otherwise not injured.

Andrew manoeuvred the lifeboat clear of the yacht. It took Adam only a few minutes to report back that the vessel was basically sound and that both men were all right. Adam prepared the yacht for a tow, but as the anchor could not be hauled, he had to cut the anchor line. The two yachtsmen did not have a knife on board, so Andrew had to take the lifeboat alongside once again to safely pass a knife to Adam. Once the anchor line was cut, the yacht swung round dangerously, tying broadside to the sea.

A difficult tow Andrew acted quickly, approaching the yacht's port bow, head to the sea Phil passed the tow rope to Adam, who secured it to the yacht's mast, the strongest point on the Tahi-Tahi. At around 3am Andrew began the tow with a slow turn to port to bring the yacht to a more comfortable south westerly heading, towards Dover. Rough sea conditions made the tow difficult to maintain. Phil paid out the full length of the tow rope, so the yacht was a safe distance astern from the lifeboat. Once the tow was in progress Phil took the helm while Andrew updated the Coastguard and monitored the tow from the crew seat.

Throughout the passage the sea state was rough, with a 4m swell. Nearing Dover the conditions worsened with the backwash from the harbour wall making the seas more confused. There was no way of avoiding the rough stretch; they had to pass through it to get into the harbour. Andrew took the helm again. The yacht broached several times when hit by large waves and the lifeboat tipped up vertically three or four times, but they persevered. Phil remembers: 'It was just a case of ploughing through it.' Harbour found With permission to enter the harbour granted by Port Control, Andrew successfully negotiated the extremely rough conditions at the eastern entrance.

Once inside the harbour the sea subsided but it was still 'lumpy'. The lifeboat towed the yacht to the western breakwater where they secured the yacht alongsidethe Atlantic 21. They reached the reception area in the inner harbour at 4.25am.

The lifeboat crew were thanked by the yachtsmen. Despite being mentally and physically drained, the three men were prepared to return the lifeboat to station.

However, they were soon told that the sea state was too rough at Walmer to recover the lifeboat at that time. The crew openly admitted that they were relieved to get a lift back to Walmer in a comfortable car instead of a rough passage home by sea.

For this service Andrew receives the Thanks of the Institution on Vellum and Phil and Adam receive Vellum Service Certificates. Andrew was delighted with the outcome of the service - two lives being saved - and praised his crew: 'We worked well as a team.'They were pleased with the recognition they had got for the service, but all stressed that they didn't do it for that. Phil commented: 'The first thought when the pager goes off isn't "I may get an award", it's "Someone's in trouble".1THE LIFEBOAT Atlantic 21 lifeboat B- 589 James Burgess Funding: Gift of Mr and Mrs A Burgess THE CREW Helmsman Andrew Coe Crew members Philip Brenchley Adam Cowell WALMER LIFEBOAT STATION Established: First established 1856; closed 1912.

Re-established 1927 RNLI Medals:Three Cold, four Silver and four Bronze THE CASUALTY Crew of two on the 8.5m sailing yacht Tahi-Tahi THE CONDITIONS Weather Dry, cloudy Visibility: Dark Wind: Force 7 Sea state: Rough, 2m swell.