Lifeboat assists tender adrift in Harbour


The Baltimore Lifeboat, “Hilda Jarrett”, was launched on 23rd August at 11:26pm when it was tasked by Valentia Coastguard to go the assistance of a rubber dinghy with two people on board in difficulty in the Harbour. The tender had been trying to get on board the yacht, “Spirit”, which was anchored North of the Pier, when their outboard engine failed. They then began to paddle, but lost one of their paddles overboard in the choppy conditions and force 5-6 South Westerly winds prevailing at the time. They began to drift towards the shore and managed to catch on to another yacht and use their handheld VHF to call for help.

The lifeboat arrived onscene and the area was by the search light of MFV “Deborah M”, which was tied up at the pier in Baltimore. The lifeboat manouvered alongside the tender and took the crew of two onboard and towed the dinghy to safety at the pier in Baltimore. The lifeboat returned to station where the boat was recovered in wind which by now had increased to force eight with driving rain. The lifeboat was again ready for service at 00:35am.

Crew for the operation were: Coxswain - Kieran Cotter, Mechanic - Cathal Cottrell, Jerry Smith, Micheal Cottrell, Brendan Cottrell, Sean McCarthy, Ronnie Carthy and Youen Jacob. Assisting on the slip with launch and recovery were: Rianne Smith, Aidan Bushe, Brian Ormond, Torsten Marten and Don O’Donovan.

The RNLI strongly urges all sea users to use a VHF marine radio rather than rely on mobile phones at sea.

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