When the crew of a stricken cargo boat found themselves being pushed towards Cape Wrath, two lifeboat crews were called into the gale for a 13-hour rescue relay

It was around 8pm on 7 December when the crew of Norholm – a live fish carrier – contacted Stornoway Coastguard to say their 32m vessel’s engine had failed. They were drifting rapidly towards the rocks of Cape Wrath, the UK mainland’s most northwesterly point. The four crew onboard had tried dropping anchors to keep their boat away from the rugged shoreline, but their attempts were no match for a growing westerly gale.

Stornoway Coastguard requested the launch of Lochinver’s all-weather lifeboat. The coastguard helicopter also headed to the casualty, in case the cargo crew abandoned ship. Within 2 hours, the lifeboat crew were at the scene. They lent a hand with trying to restart the stricken engine, but to no avail. With the shore looming closer, they decided to attach a tow rope and pull Norholm away from danger.

Stuart Gudgeon, Mechanic and Deputy Second Coxswain on the Lochinver lifeboat says: ‘Our aim was just to get the vessel away from Cape Wrath and hold her out at sea – in those conditions with the weather against us, there’s no way we could have towed her to a safe shore nearby. Norholm is a big vessel but sometimes we were just two boat lengths away and still losing sight of her behind the waves. It was a miracle our tow rope held.’

As Lochinver’s crew travelled further, parallel with the coast, they reached the limit of their ‘patch’. So, at 1.27am, Thurso’s all-weather lifeboat crew launched to take over. A severe gale with heavy hail, thunder and lightning was on their heels.

Thurso Coxswain William ‘Wing’ Monroe says: ‘The gale that hit right about the time we arrived at the Norholm (around 4am) was one of the worst I’ve seen for a long time. On our way out, we hugged the coast as much as we could for shelter, but eventually we had to go out to open seas where the swell was around 8m. It was horrendous going and all seven crew in the lifeboat were really knocked about.’

After a tricky but well-executed line transfer, Thurso took over towing duties and battled through the mountainous swells to pull Norholm round the headland. With the cargo ship in a more sheltered area, the Coastguard emergency tugboat Herakles picked up the tow. The tired but safe fish carrier crew eventually made it to Stromness Harbour with the help of a fourth boat – the Voe Viking – at just after midnight on 9 December.

Meanwhile, the volunteer lifeboat crews were recovering after their tough, but successful part in the rescue – Lochinver’s crew having arrived back at their station at 7.15am, and Thurso at 11.20am.

‘Both crews had a long, arduous night,’ adds Stuart. ‘It pushed the lifeboats to their limits.’

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8pm: Norholm contacts Coastguard for help. Soon after, Lochinver’s all-weather lifeboat crew launch

11.25pm: Lochinver lifeboat begins to tow Norholm away from rocky Cape Wrath, after an hour’s failed attempt to restart the casualty’s failed engine.

1.27am: Thurso’s all-weather lifeboat crew launches, taking over the tow at 4.15am.

9.05am: Coastguard emergency towing vessel Herakles arrives to relieve the crew.

0.26am: Norholm arrives safely at Stromness, towed by a fourth boat, the Viking Voe.

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‘It’s like being on a rollercoaster’

Few of us have experienced what it’s like to tackle huge swells in a force 9 and, as Stuart explains, it’s not an easy ride. ‘When you’re sitting down, you have seatbelts to keep yourself firmly in place and standing up, you have lifelines to attach to yourself, but you still take a fair buffeting. It’s a bit like being on a rollercoaster for a very long time,’ says the Lochinver crew member, who raised more than £1,000 for the RNLI when he completed the Five Peaks Challenge. ‘You have to trust your boat though and know what it’s capable of – they’re pretty tough machines!’

STUART GUDGEON
MECHANIC AND DEPUTY SECOND
COXSWAIN | SEVERN CLASS
LIFEBOAT CREW | LOCHINVER