How one woman’s generosity and a volunteer crew’s commitment made a 12-hour rescue possible

The lifeboat crew from the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides worked through the night aboard the all-weather lifeboat Edna Windsor during a marathon rescue of a damaged yacht.

The Barra Island lifeboat was called out at around 8.50pm on Thursday 12 June, but didn’t get back home until the following morning. The six volunteers spent the whole night on a mission to rescue the stricken yacht and its two-man crew from Loch Skipport on the island of South Uist.

The yacht Rebel had grounded on a reef after the tide dropped, just inside the entrance to the loch. The Severn class all-weather lifeboat Edna Windsor arrived on the scene at around 10.15pm, but low water meant they couldn’t get the yacht clear of the reef until 3.45am. Rebel had suffered serious damage to her hull and rudder, but her crew were uninjured.

The tired but determined lifeboat crew then towed the yacht, with the two crew still aboard, to the safe harbour at Lochboisdale. Exhausted, they made it back to their base in Castlebay at 9.15am. ‘It was a long shout!’ says Barra’s Deputy Second Coxswain Ronald Maclean.

KINDNESS LIVING ON
The story could all have been so different if the Edna Windsor hadn’t been on hand. This Severn class lifeboat was funded by a gift from the Will of Mrs Edna Windsor in 1998.

Six out of ten lifeboat launches are only possible because of people remembering the RNLI in their Wills. Any gift, large or small, pays for the equipment and training our volunteers need to stay safe and save more lives – today and into the future.

PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A GIFT TO THE RNLI IN YOUR WILL
For a free infomation pack about making or updating your Will, please contact Nicky Comber on 01202 663204 or email [email protected].