WEDGED YACHT

Both Barmouth RNLI lifeboats, the harbour master and Barmouth coastguard team attended when a 34ft yacht broke its moorings and became caught in Barmouth bridge, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The inshore lifeboat was launched at 6.29pm when the call from UK Coastguard came in on 21 August, followed by the all-weather lifeboat at 6.45pm.

Given that there was no-one on board the stricken yacht, a fast flowing incoming tide, and the fact the yacht was wedged under the bridge, the decision was made to stand-off until after high water at 8.55pm.

The yacht’s rigging was caught up in the bridge meaning any recovery had to be taken slowly to avoid endangering the volunteer crew or the bridge itself.

At 9.43pm the mast on the yacht broke under the pressure of the changing tide. This released the cruiser from the bridge and enabled the inshore lifeboat to guide the vessel to a safe location.