Equipment failure sounds benign. But when it’s a broken mast that causes a capsize, it can turn an afternoon on the water into a serious situation – very quickly

Getting ready for an evening shift, Police Officer and Crew Member Paul Stather’s pager sounded. Living just a 2-minute run away, he was first to Kinghorn Lifeboat Station. The call from the UK Coastguard reported two men in the water off Portobello Beach. Helm Mark Brown says: ‘We normally get westerly winds, but that day it was blowing from the east. It was only a force 3 or 4 but, with waves driving straight up the slip, we had a challenging launch.’ Paul and fellow Crew Member Megan Davidson were positioned at the bow of the Atlantic 85 Tommy Niven ready to pull the casualties into the boat. ‘It wasn’t very elegant: because of the sail and ropes in the water, Mark had a difficult approach. The current was moving us towards the rock armour [shoreline-protecting rocks] and we needed to act quickly.’ Megan was immediately concerned for one of the men. ‘While one was in a drysuit, the other was in a wetsuit and shivering violently,’ she recalls. ‘They’d done the right thing staying with the dinghy. A lot of people would see the shore and think: “Oh, I’ll manage,” but hypothermia progresses frighteningly fast and they probably wouldn’t have been able to make the distance. It’s much easier for us to spot a hull than a head in the water.’ Delivering the casualty safely to the waiting ambulance, the crew headed back out for a rapid retrieval of the dinghy to prevent it becoming a navigational hazard. ‘Crew Members Kenny Davidson and Paul had the hardest job,’ Mark emphasises. ‘The capsize was caused by a broken stay [a cable supporting the mast] and bent mast – the rescuees hadn’t been able to right it themselves because of the weight of the water on top of the collapsed sail. Paul and Kenny are both big strong guys, but it took them three gruelling attempts.’ Bringing the dinghy back into shore had its own challenges. Megan recalls: ‘I watched a big wave knock Paul and a coastguard rescue officer off their feet and under the dinghy. I’ve been on the crew for 8 years, but it really brought home the power of the water.’ Helmets offered essential protection and the next wave brought the dinghy further up the beach, where volunteers helped with the recovery. Tractor Driver and former Senior Helm at Kinghorn, Steve Robinson, had to overcome the final hurdle. ‘It was a 6.2m spring tide, flooding to its fullest extent and bringing dumping waves up onto the slipway,’ Steve explains. ‘This meant we had to use a non-standard recovery, where the lifeboat is driven straight onto the trailer and into a net.’ ‘As I was bringing it in, the waves were lifting and moving the tractor – and it’s 8 tonnes! I had to go a wee bit slower to keep contact between the tyres and the ground. It was a challenge, but you get a feel for the conditions and what’s needed to get the crew in safely,’ he adds modestly. Mark knows how important volunteers like Steve are to the rescue: ‘Being the ones out on the boat, we’re the most visible, but the shore crew are often the unsung heroes. We can be exhausted after a shout and there’s a whole group of people at the station who help us all the way through. Without them, the boat couldn’t get in the water in the first place.’

‘The crew were very reassuring’

You think it’ll never happen to you, but there will be times when you’ll have equipment failures that are not recoverable without help. That’s when the RNLI becomes very important. ‘We knew we were close enough to shore that we wouldn’t have to wait long, but we were both concerned with how quickly my friend was getting cold. When they got to us, the crew were very reassuring and made sure we were really well taken care of. ‘What came across was their energy and commitment. They clearly enjoy what they do and didn’t seem to be fazed by the challenges.’

IAN COLDWELL
RESCUEE AND CO-FOUNDER OF PORTOBELLO
SAILING AND KAYAKING CLUB