Yacht engine failure sparks launch of RNLI Invergordon lifeboat crew
Invergordon volunteers assisted a stranded yacht yesterday evening (Sunday, June 16) as they rescued a couple on holiday who suffered the consequence of engine failure.
The volunteers' pagers sounded at 6:14pm, requested by the UK Coastguard to launch to assist a yacht in difficulty by the Moray Firth’s Rift Bank.
An Invergordon volunteer crew mustered at the station as six of them launched the charities Shannon class all-weather lifeboat RNLB Agnes AP Barr (RNLI 13-37).
This signalled the first call-out since taking over operational duty at 3:14pm that afternoon from RNLB Reg (RNLI 13-07) who had been covering duties whilst the station boat was away for maintenance.
The crew made good speed up the Cromarty Firth with clear visibility and favourable weather conditions before passing through the Sutors into the Moray Firth.
Arriving on the scene twenty-five minutes after launching, the crew assessed the situation and found the 11m yacht anchored after suffering from engine failure in the main north channel.
With two persons on board, they advised they could not raise their recently dropped anchor to stop the drift onto the Rift Bank sand bank.
The lifeboat manoeuvred into a suitable position and the crew assisted in raising the anchor tethered on 30m of rope and chain.
After a short while, the anchor was recovered successfully and the situation had been assessed. Therefore, the decision was made to take the vessel under tow to the safety of Inverness Marina.
A tow line was quickly established from the all-weather lifeboat to the casualty vessel with assistance from two volunteer crew from flank station RNLI Kessock who arrived on the scene while anchor recovery was undertaken.
Invergordon Lifeboat made steady progress towards Inverness Marina at a speed of around 6-7 knots, arriving around 9:20pm.
Local Coastguard teams were on hand to assist in securing the yacht alongside the marina pontoons.
The volunteer crew departed the marina and made their way back to the home berth in Invergordon’s West Harbour, where the lifeboat was washed, refuelled, and made ready for service by 11pm.
Invergordon RNLI coxswain, Andrew Murray said: “We were pleased to assist a holidaying couple who suffered unfortunate engine failure in their voyage towards the Caledonian Canal and wish them a successful repair and safe onward journey.
“Our volunteer crew are always available to be able to respond to a request to launch.”
