Lifeboat rescues two yachts in difficulty off the Wicklow coast
DUN LAOGHAIRE RNLI came to the rescue of two separate vessels that faced difficulty off the north Wicklow coast last week.
On Saturday afternoon, the crew rescued a 32ft yacht with one person onboard off Bray Head while the previous Wednesday night they came to the aid of two seafarers in a 28ft yacht at Greystones.
On Saturday, a yacht was on passage from Arklow when its engine failed just off Bray Head.
The volunteer lifeboat crew was called into action and requested to launch their all-weather lifeboat at 16.24 p.m. following a report from the Irish Coast Guard.
With the country in the grip of a heatwave, weather conditions were near perfect with clear blue skies and good visibility at the time.
The lifeboat crew successfully towed the yacht and skipper, who was uninjured, safely back to Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
Commenting after the call out, Dun Laoghaire RNLI Coxswain Kieran Colley said: ‘ The skipper of the vessel indeed made a good decision in calling for assistance. He was also wearing a lifejacket, which I’m always glad to see. I can’t stress enough how important it is to wear one.’
Three days earlier, the RNLI were alerted after 11 p.m. to a vessel which ran into difficulty at Greystones. The two on- boaard had become stranded 200m out from Greystones Marina.
Weather conditions and visibility were perfect. Once on scene, the lifeboat crew of six, checked that the two were safe and well before successfully towing the yacht back to Greystones Harbour.
Dun Laoghaire RNLI Helm Mark McGibney said afterwards: ‘On this occasion, the skipper of the vessel did the right thing by anchoring his vessel and calling for assistance.
‘Both parties were wearing lifejackets and they had a VHS radio. All of these things made for a successful rescue.’