BOTH Looe lifeboats were launched and tow local charter boats assisted after a fishing boat began taking in water.
RNLI volunteer crew pagers sounded just before 5pm yesterday (Wednesday) after the Falmouth Coastguard received a distress call from a 23 foot vessel around a nautical mile south east of Downderry. The two people on board said that their boat was taking on water.
Within nine minutes the charity’s Atlantic 85 was launched, quickly followed by the D Class inshore lifeboat. Carrying salvage pumps, both lifeboats headed across Looe bay towards the casualty vessel. Two Looe fishing charter boats Swallow II and Sowenna who were in the Whitsand bay area also responded to the call and made their way towards the casualty vessel, and Plymouth Lifeboat Station’s Severn class all-weather lifeboat was also launched carrying additional pumps.
First to arrive on scene was the Swallow II, skippered by Murray Collings, who found the two persons on board uninjured and the boat’s pumps coping with the ingress of water. A tow was established, and the Swallow II headed for Looe, with Dan Margetts, a Looe RNLI volunteer helm, on the Sowenna standing by alongside. Shortly afterwards Looe RNLI’s Atlantic 85 arrived on scene to take over the tow, releasing both charter boats to make their way back to Looe. Plymouth’s all-weather lifeboat which had just passed Rame Head was stood down to return to station after our crew confirmed the casualty vessel’s pumps were still coping with the water ingress.
The casualty vessel was towed to a mooring on West Looe quayside for repairs and the inshore lifeboats returned to station where they were washed down and refuelled ready for service by 7 pm
Crew Atlantic 85 Toby Bray (Helm ), Matt Jaycock, Aaron Rix, Victoria Thomas
Crew D Class Dave Jackman (Helm), Clive Palfrey, Goron Jones
Shore crew Nick Pope, Paul Barley, Eric Candy, Del Palfrey
Weather Partial cloud with good visibility, light NE force 2 wind, calm seas and an incoming tide