When a fisherman fell into a fast ebbing tide, who would hear his cries for help – and what could be done to save him?

After a morning’s shrimp fishing on 29 October 2013, one of Achill’s lifelong mariners headed to his mooring. As usual, he secured his boat and prepared to step aboard his small fibreglass tender for the return to harbour. But as he did so, the light craft capsized and the fisherman fell into the water between the two vessels. He wasn't wearing a lifejacket but managed to grab hold of the upturned hull and start shouting for help.

Luckily, his cries reached two people who were outside their harbourside houses. Paddy Kilbane, Achill Island Lifeboat Station’s retired Deputy Launching Authority, was on his doorstep when he heard the shouts. And four doors away, John Gallagher also heard the cries for help – he was mending his roof and, from his elevated position, spotted the man in the water.

‘The man was extremely fortunate that the day was dry, the sea moderately calm and the wind blowing in the right direction for them to hear,’ explains Achill Second Coxswain Dave Curtis, who was nearing the scene himself. He had arrived at the harbour to check if the all-weather lifeboat was secure on her mooring after a night of rough conditions. ‘If it had happened the day before or the day after, then severe wind and rain would have completely drowned out his shouts. As it was, the wind was blowing the wrong way for me to catch anything. Even as John and Paddy ran towards me, I couldn’t hear what they were saying until they were up close.’

John and Paddy decided to head to the man in their rowing boat, while Dave stayed put to keep visual contact with the man. But he was concerned that time was running out – would a rowing boat be quick enough to reach the man before he succumbed to the cold, powerful waters? ‘The fast ebbing tide would have sent him out into the open sea very fast. But that wasn't the only danger. We also have perilous swirling waters here, suction holes caused by dips in the seabed that literally pull you under.’

So Dave contacted the Achill Island lifeboat Mechanic Stephen McNulty, who was already at the station. ‘Stephen and I had been due to go out to the all-weather lifeboat, so our boarding boat and launch tractor were at the ready. This shaved vital minutes off the time it would have taken if we'd carried out a standard launch.’

Stephen launched Achill’s boarding boat – a stripped down D class used to reach the all-weather lifeboat, which lies on a permanent swinging mooring 275m from the station. Normally she would just be used to ferry the lifeboat crew, but now she was needed as a rescue vessel in her own right. This small, swift craft was exactly what was needed. Dave joined him aboard the boat and they sped towards the struggling man, overtaking John and Paddy on the rowing boat.

As they approached, it was clear they were in the nick of time. ‘All we could see above the water was the round of his face – his eyes, nose, mouth and chin – and the tips of his fingers on one hand clinging onto the rim of his craft. The rest of him was submerged and being dragged under. As a man in his senior years, he did very well to hang on for so long.’ Dave and Stephen reached down and grabbed an arm each to haul the man into the boarding boat. He was soaked and cold, but conscious and responsive.

Back at the station, Dave and Stephen gave the casualty a warm shower. ‘We’d both just completed a casualty care course so applied some of this to a person suffering cold, wet conditions,’ says Dave. Meanwhile Paddy Lineen, the station’s recently retired Medical Adviser, arrived and assessed the man and gave him the all clear.

‘The success of this rescue was thanks to help from across the community,’ concludes Dave, who, along with Stephen, received a Letter of Appreciation from the RNLI’s Operations Director George Rawlinson. ‘The man must have had a fright he’ll never forget. Five minutes later and it could have been a very different Christmas for his family. We’ve seen him out since, but always with a lifejacket on!’