In near gale force winds, a large crabbing boat lost engine power and was drifting close to an offshore gas rig. Unable to anchor, due to underwater pipelines, she needed a tow to safety

Just as the volunteer crew of Bridlington lifeboat were returning home from their day jobs, on 23 November last year, the shout came. It would take 4 attempts and 10 hours at sea before they were able to bring the local fishermen and their boat Novantae back to safety.

Bridlington has two lifeboats, an inshore and an all-weather, kept at two separate stations. Their usual all-weather Mersey Marine Engineer was away undergoing her refit. Her stand in was another Mersey, Lifetime Care. To reach the sea, the all-weather boats are pulled by tractor along a main road and down across the beach.

Second Mechanic Chris Brompton says: ‘Launching off the carriage in rough weather can be a bit treacherous.’ His Coxswain Stewart McKie explains further: ‘We have had one occasion when the launch went bad on us in heavy weather. As we launched we got hit by a heavy wave and got picked up and turned right round and were driven onto the beach.’

Luckily on this occasion, although it was blowing a near gale with wintry sleet showers, the wind direction meant that the beach was protected from the worst of the weather by Flamborough Head. Once out at sea it took the lifeboat just under 2 hours to cover the 28 miles to the stricken vessel.

During this time the 55-ton beam trawler had drifted about 4.5 miles and was in clear sight of the platform above Easington Gas Field. ‘The guard ship that keeps people away from the platform was getting a bit concerned,’ says Stewart. The fishing boat was unable to anchor as they were also close to the main Dimlington to Ravenspurn gas pipe.

Once close enough, the crew passed a rope to the Novantae and were able to start towing her to safety. ‘The weather was lousy. It was on our beam and that slowed us down. It made life awkward because the boats kept spinning around and broaching. The rope was tight and then slack and tight and then slack, putting extra strain on it,’ explains Stewart.

During calmer conditions the tow rope would be kept taut at all times but with rough, confused seas this was not possible. It was only 10 minutes before the first tow rope snapped. It was to break a further three times.

On the first couple of attempts the crew of the fishing boat wrapped carpet around the rope where it came aboard at the fairlead to stop it from chafing and wearing through, but this didn’t work. Each time the rope snapped, Novantae was pushed back by the wind and tide losing any headway they had made. Hauling the rope back onboard in the stormy conditions became extremely exhausting for the lifeboat crew. After the tow rope snapped for the third time, the Coxswain realised they would have to come up with another strategy if they were ever going to get Novantae home.

‘The relief boat had two hoses so I took one of them out of the rack and took the end off with a knife. I then cut off about 1.5m so that when the tow rope snapped once more, I was able to feed it through the hose so that it had a sheath of rubber to protect it,’ explains the Coxswain.

The rope was then passed back to the fishing vessel whose crew made sure that the section with the hose was placed within the fairlead. This time the tow was successful and the crews were able to proceed on their way back to Bridlington. Strong winds and tide meant that they could only make a steady 4 knots.

It was 3.40am when the boats finally returned. Asked how they felt when they made it home the Coxswain says: ‘We were tired but generally when you get back you are on a bit of an adrenaline run.’ Chris Brompton, Second Mechanic, says: ‘It was a long job, but nothing more than we would be trained for and know what to do.’

Chris did admit that it had been difficult since they had all had a long day working at their normal jobs before being called out to work overnight in rough conditions, only getting back in the early hours of the morning. Once ashore some of the crew were back to their day jobs a couple of hours later. Bridlington has one of the largest shellfish fleets in the country. The town’s lifeboat crew often experience long call outs to vessels that fish far out at sea.