In a nail-biting service, Donaghadee lifeboat crew battled to save three lives. Would the Coxswain keep cool and reach the sailors in time?

Rudely awoken at 2.15am on 13 September 2009, the County Down crew sprang into action. Within just 7 minutes of the pagers going off, the Trent class lifeboat Saxon launched.

Coxswain Philip McNamara had already spoken to Belfast Coastguard. A yacht, Bentim Buoys, had run hard aground on a stretch of rocks near Ballywalter, notorious for shipwrecks. Her crew of three men were sailing upwind to Bangor when they had run off course, 5 nautical miles south of Donaghadee. The trio were described as elderly.

Conditions at the harbour were fair but it would be a different matter for the yacht on the exposed shoreline of Craigbrain Rocks. Philip was familiar with the area’s hazards, the shallow waters and outlying rocks. He formulated a plan to get the men off Bentim Buoys before she broke up.

Sure enough, once the lifeboat cleared the harbour, conditions deteriorated: winds of force 5–6, a swell of up to 2m and breaking waves. On making VHF contact with the yacht, Philip recalls: ‘They were very glad to hear from us. I outlined my plan and they were cooperative, but reluctant to abandon their yacht. I made it clear to them that their lives were my priority, so I would take them off the yacht if that’s what I had to do.’ Visibility was good and the crew spotted the lights of Bentim Buoys easily. They found the yacht hard aground, being pounded by breaking waves. The yachtsmen were in real peril, as Philip explains: ‘No vessel could have withstood the battering for long.’

As part of Philip’s forward thinking, the crew were ready with Saxon’s XP boat, a small inflatable with an outboard engine. It could be used to pick up the men on the yacht, while the all-weather lifeboat provided shelter from the wind and waves. It was ‘borderline’ whether the XP boat was within its operational limits and Philip didn’t make the decision lightly to deploy the vessel.

The first attempt

At 3am, Philip manoeuvred Saxon 30m to the east of Bentim Buoys, as close as possible to the outlying rocks. He turned the lifeboat beam (side) on to the Nerves of steel In a nail-biting service, Donaghadee lifeboat crew battled to save three lives. Would the Coxswain keep cool and reach the sailors in time? weather to provide a lee, and Crew Members David McCormack and Richard McGimpsey launched in the XP boat.

But to their dismay, within seconds, the XP stalled. Richard and Dave attempted to restart the engine but had no luck. Before they had drifted too far away from the mothercraft, the pair grabbed the oars and paddled strongly back to Saxon. Why the XP boat failed was a mystery: ‘Until this day we don’t understand why it stalled,’ muses Philip. ‘Next day we tested it and it started first time.’

Philip had to think of another way to save the yachtsmen. One option was a breeches buoy (a lifebuoy with canvas seat that, when suspended from a rope, can slide from one vessel to another). But Bentim Buoys was so unstable that the technique was deemed too dangerous.

If at first …

What could be the next course of action? From a similar position 30m from Bentim Buoys, a lifeboatman would fire a speedline rocket. They could then pass a light tow rope to try and ease the yacht, with the men onboard, off the rock. The main danger was that Bentim Buoys would be damaged but they couldn’t leave the men where they were.

The first speedline missed the yacht as the wind didn’t carry it as expected. The second looked perfect but became entangled high on the mast and wouldn’t budge.

The Coxswain had to think again. Everybody knew that time was running out for the men on Bentim Buoys. It wouldn’t be long before she broke up. Philip comments: ‘We all remember the noise from that night, the hammering, the thumping of the boat on the rocks and the jingling of the rigging … wild!’

Special delivery

Philip resolved to take the lifeboat closer to the yacht, so they could throw a line to the yachtsmen. He knew the rock-strewn path would be hazardous, but was confident in his own ability and that of the crew and the lifeboat.

While Mechanic Shane McNamara readied the heaving line, Deputy Second Coxswain John Ashwood down in the wheelhouse called out the depth via the intercom so that Philip could concentrate on the boathandling from the upper steering position.

At 3.30am, in an amazing display of technique and composure, the Coxswain threaded his way through the rocks to within 5m of Bentim Buoys.The manoeuvre took just a few minutes but at times the lifeboat came within a whisker of calamity.

With no time to waste, the lifeboatmen at the bow expertly threw the line to one of the yachtsmen, who then secured the tow rope to his starboard cockpit winch. Saxon took the strain but, just as the yacht was starting to lift, the tow parted. Undeterred, everyone tried again. With the tow rope secured to the winch, the lifeboat reversed, the yacht lifted – and was suddenly free. But, as Philip recalls: ‘She came off with a big thump, hit some more rocks and her winch sheered off.’

The Coxswain reacted immediately, making another approach to the yacht. Momentarily, the lifeboat skimmed rocks but remained undamaged. Philip took Saxon’s bow right up to Bentim Buoys and Shane passed the tow rope directly into the hands of the yacht’s crew.

Once more, the tow was secured and at last the lifeboat cleared the rocks. With more sea room, the crew transferred the tow from bow to stern and then checked the condition of the three yachtsmen. They were shaken but amazed to report that the yacht had remained watertight. After a relatively smooth passage of over an hour, the lifeboat and Bentim Buoys reached the safety of Donaghadee at 5am.

Recognition

When asked about his pivotal role in this lifesaving service, Philip deflects the attention: ‘I couldn’t say enough about the crew – outstanding. And back at the station, Crew Member George Thomson sorted bacon butties for all of us in the early hours of the morning, so he deserves a mention too!’

Philip’s enthusiasm and humour is infectious, but he’s serious about lifesaving. It was announced in April that he is to receive the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum. Philip admits the recognition makes him feel: ‘a wee bit overwhelmed. I didn’t expect it. I got thanks from the three guys; I thought that was it.’

In this, the centenary year of Donaghadee Station, volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager Alan Couser stresses that generations of lifeboatmen have passed down their experience and local knowledge to the current crew, resources so vital in this rescue. Alan has high praise for his volunteer Coxswain: ‘Philip’s absolutely devoted to the lifeboat and the crew. And he’s super cool in an emergency.’