Three trawlermen aground in a gale take a courageous leap of faith …

Jonathan Connor was spending his Sunday evening studying. The trainee crew member was at Kinsale Lifeboat Station, working on an RNLI course, when he heard a message on the radio. A 20m trawler had been forced onto rocks and its crew were speaking with the Coast Guard. It was 6pm on 10 April. Jonathan knew the situation was serious. He called RNLI Helm Nick Searls, who set off for the station straight away. Meanwhile, Crew Member Matthew Teehan was shopping for his evening meal when he saw Nick dashing past the supermarket door. Matthew knew something was up: ‘You wouldn’t often see Nicky running.’ He followed Nick down to the station and – just as they got in the door – heard the trawlermen issuing their mayday call. Third to arrive at the station was Jim Grennan. They launched the lifeboat at 6.10pm – Jonathan had bought them a good 5 minutes. Rocks and rolls Onboard the trawler Sean Anthony, things were pretty rough for Portuguese fishermen Angelo, Jose and Ruben. In a force 7 near gale, they had gone aground on rocks at the entrance to Kinsale Harbour. The tide was in, and a messy swell rolled the vessel around on its rocky perch. The fishermen had their lifejackets on, but there was no way to safety for them just yet.

It took around 5 minutes for the lifeboat crew to get to the scene. Nick says: ‘We were flat out, but using our local knowledge to get there quickly and safely. It was a mayday so we had people in trouble. From knowing where the boat was, we knew it was going to be a metre up on the rocks and we wouldn’t be able to get in that close. We knew we’d have to veer down and pick them up out of the water.’ Veering down involves dropping anchor at the bow and then reversing carefully. It keeps the lifeboat under control in difficult or constrained situations – just like this one. There was no way to get the lifeboat close enough to the trawler for the fishermen to step aboard. They would have to jump into the water – in 3–4m waves – and trust that the RNLI volunteers would scoop them out. Hours of training meant Nick’s experienced crew knew just what to do. Using the time-honoured techniques of shouting and hand signals, they urged the fishermen to jump. Swimming for it The first two fishermen were keen to get off the trawler. They leaped in and swam to the lifeboat, where they were hauled aboard by all three crew members. The third was more hesitant. Matthew says: ‘The wave came up the beam of the trawler and he was standing at the gunwale. It nearly pulled him into the water.’ Once in, though, he swam strongly to the lifeboat. Matthew knew there was no time to waste: ‘After we got the three lads onboard and got over the rocks, we cut the anchor to get out of the danger zone as fast as possible.’ They returned to station, where the rescued fishermen were offered hot showers, coffee and woolly bears (the thermal all-in-ones the lifeboat crew wear under their drysuits). Their possessions were still onboard Sean Anthony. The town of Kinsale rallied round. A local shoe shop sent shoes for the fishermen, and a local hotel offered them a place to stay – as well as a meal for the rescuees and crew to share. Matthew says: ‘They dropped down some pizzas and a mountain of chips, and chicken. There was loads of food here.’ Despite the abandoned supermarket shopping, there was still a hot dinner for the crew – and the rescued fishermen.
Words: Mairéad Dwane
Photos: RNLI

THE CREW

Helm Nick Searls (38)
Chief Officer,
North Sea Boat
Matthew Teehan (24)
After Sales Support,
Motor Dealer
Jim Grennan (38)
Maintenance,
Day Care Centre

NICK SEARLS
HELMSMAN | KINSALE
I suppose it was challenging enough. We know the area, and we train an awful lot together, so there was no big discussion. We did it and we were gone. For the last guy, we were very close to the rocks, so we just had to cut the line and go. It all happened very quickly. Definitely the young lad who was in the station, Jonathan, was a big help. He had the cop on to realise that something was happening and that bought us time. Five minutes can make all the difference. It was a good call, and he’s been on three shouts since. Looking back, I wouldn’t have done anything different. The lads knew what they were doing and they just cracked on.