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Exmouth RNLI tow yacht to safety

EXMOUTH’S new lifeboat again proved its worth in a low water when on Thursday its crew rescued a yacht that had run aground.

Tim Mock, RNLI coxswain at Exmouth, saw the 22-foot yacht grounding in broken seas on the seaward side of the Pole Sands and launched the Mersey Margaret Jean and the inshore lifeboat George Bearman to help the one person onboard the vessel. Within half an hour the sailing boat had been towed off the sand on the rising tide – the station’s former Trent class lifeboat would have been unable to launch in low tide.

Kevin Riley, Exmouth RNLI lifeboat operations said: “The Mersey made all the difference.

“The Trent class lifeboat was tidally restricted and couldn’t leave her moorings for around two hours each side of low tide, so we wouldn’t have been able to use her.

“The Mersey with its shallower draft was able to negotiate the channel successfully so both the lifeboats could work together to assist the yacht. It’s proof the Mersey is the ideal lifeboat for Exmouth, especially with the channel changing and silting up so quickly.”

Once the yacht had been taken off the sand, one of the volunteer lifeboat crew brought the yacht into Exmouth docks while both lifeboats were then called on to assist three kite surfers who were in difficulty off Exmouth’s main beach.

www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

Posted In: International Boating on May 15, 2008 Comments (1,239)

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