Dunbar’s lifeboat and crew took a hammering on their way to saving two lives in May – would their resilience win the day?

Jonas and Ingrid Åkerblom had built the yacht Ouhm themselves. They planned to take a year out of their lives in Gothenburg, Sweden, to sail around  Europe and out to the Azores. But disaster struck on their first leg in the form of extreme weather off the east  coast of Scotland.

Coxswain Gary Fairbairn and Mechanic Kenny Peters were already at Dunbar lifeboat station when the pagers went off at 5.07pm on Friday 15 May. Volunteers converged on the station, but Gary waited 10  minutes for his most experienced crew members. Once Brian Cleator, Kevin Keillor, Stuart Pirie and  John Watt had arrived, it was time to get onboard, and the Trent class John Neville Taylor launched  at 5.30pm.

Strapped into their seats, the crew knew the 42-mile passage would be rough – a force 8 gale was blowing, with a 5–7m swell. Going further offshore, the swell grew higher, while the wind showed no mercy, increasing to a severe gale force 9. Several massive breaking waves thumped the lifeboat, tearing away fendering, unlatching the bow fairlead and twice dislodging the salvage pump.

At one stage, the lifeboat plummeted 10m from the crest of a wave. Minutes later, she was pounded through 90° by another monster wave, submerging the port side briefly before coming upright. By the  time they arrived at Ouhm’s reported position at 7.45pm, the lifeboat was battered and her crew bruised. Gary says: ‘The conditions were especially bad as we got nearer. I worked on fishing trawlers for 15 years before becoming Coxswain, but I’ve never seen anything like that.’

It was difficult to spot the 8m yacht straight away in such awful conditions. However, the tug Magic was standing watch nearby, staying upwind in an attempt to shelter Ouhm from the worst of the waves. She had already been knocked down twice. All the lifeboat crew could make out was her masthead light shining occasionally between walls of water. A makeshift drogue was holding her stern to sea.

It was obvious that the Åkerbloms would have to abandon their beloved vessel, as a tow would be impossible. They did not have a liferaft, so Gary would have to take the lifeboat alongside. They asked for a couple of minutes to collect their most treasured possessions. Jonas says: ‘It was not a hard decision when we were told we had to leave the boat. But it was very sad as she took us 6 years to build and we did not know if we would see her again. We were very happy to be alive’

Ingrid wore their only lifejacket, while the RNLI crew lined up along the lifeboat’s starboard side in preparation for Gary’s first approach. Gary had been at the helm for the entire shout and his boathandling was about to betested yet more.

Close up manoeuvres

Now would have been a good time for Ouhm to hold position, but the operation was about to become even more challenging. Her drogue was overwhelmed by the conditions, causing the yacht to turn beam on to the sea. Gary began his first approach but, just as he was nearing, John Neville Taylor took a big hit from a wave. Applying full power astern, Gary avoided a collision that could have damaged or even sunk the smaller Ouhm.

The second approach was more successful – a sharp, last-minute turn allowing Stuart to snatch Ingrid and drag her to safety, while her husband was thrown a lifejacket. A similar manoeuvre on the third approach let Stuart grab Jonas, pulling him over the lifeboat’s guardrail. Ingrid says: ‘We could both have died out there; that is quite clear. It was very frightening and we are extremely grateful to the lifeboat crew for rescuing us.’

The casualties settled into the wheelhouse and, thanking Magic’s Captain, Gary headed for home, while the crew offered the couple first aid, including oxygen, and hot drinks. It was still rough, and the Trent class was recording speeds of 32 knots surfing down the waves, 28% above her usual maximum.

The now penniless Jonas and Ingrid were back on dry land at 10.15pm. A whip-round at the lifeboat station paid for a night at a local hotel, while the Chaplain from Eyemouth Fishermen’s Mission stepped in to help the couple. But the RNLI’s role in this story wasn’t over yet.

The next day, a yacht was reported drifting towards rocks near Arbroath, creating a possible danger to shipping. Ouhm’s progress towards oblivion was only stalled when her drogue snagged the bottom. She was held in clear but shallow water until Arbroath’s Mersey class lifeboat Inchcape and D class Duncan Ferguson, arrived to set up a tow in what was still a near gale and 4m swell.

For his courage, judgement and exemplary boathandling in extreme conditions, Coxswain Gary Fairbairn will be awarded the RNLI’s Bronze Medal for Gallantry. Kenny Peters, Brian Cleator, Kevin Keillor, Stuart Pirie and John Watt will be awarded Medal Service Certificates, while Magic‘s Captain Marcel van Honk will be presented with a Chief Executive’s Letter of Appreciation for his initiative and compassion.

[Readers of Offshore will find lessons learned fromthis incident.]