Mowi workboat in sea rescue
ONE of Mowi’s workboats came to the rescue of a German yacht which was drifting after its engine failed.
The incident took place on Friday 18 June, when Lewis Gibson, skipper of the Beinn Mowi workboat, and his deckhand Lewis Sneddon, noticed the 36 foot Germanflagged sailing yacht Joenathe was drifting towards Kingairloch salmon farm in Loch Linnhe where the workboat was moored.
The sailing yacht had no engine or power and was dragging both its anchors, including 200 metres of rope and 50 metres of chain, in high winds and swell.
Gibson, who was only on his second shift as skipper, secured the drifting yacht and attempted to help restart its engine, but without success. The yacht moored alongside one of Kingairloch’s pens until, by Sunday, the weather had cleared enough to allow the
Beinn Mowi to tow it the 12 nautical miles to Dunstaffnage marina for engine repairs.
Jörg, the master of Joenathe, said: “We are extremely grateful to the crew of the Beinn Mowi. It’s very seldom you get to meet such good seamen, they really knew what needed to be done under strong wind conditions and we are so grateful that they supported us in this way.
“It was an outstanding offer from the two Lewises to tow us to Dunstaffnage and it was another great piece of seamanship to get us alongside on the pontoon so smoothly. It was really fantastic.”
Lewis Gibson commented: “It was a bit nervewracking. This was only my second shift as skipper, I’ve never done anything like this and the Beinn Mowi is twice the size of the sailing yacht, but we managed to come alongside in a safe and controlled manner and take control of the situation … he [Jörg] was such a lovely guy and a highly experienced sailor.
“We’re just happy we were able to help.”