COWES LIFEBOAT RESPONDS TO YACHT AGROUND AT BEAULIEU

A 34ft yacht that went hard aground in the mud of Beaulieu River led to the launching of Cowes RNLI lifeboat yesterday afternoon (Friday). The lifeboat arrived to find a man and a woman aboard the yacht, by then heavily leaning over because of the receding tide. Lymington Coastguard Rescue Team and the Lepe-based Solent Lifeboat – which ferried the woman to Bucklers Hard – also responded to the incident. With the acceptance that it would probably not be until the early hours of this morning before the tide allowed the yacht to float free, the yacht’s kedge anchor was deployed to help give it more stability when this happened. After Solent Coastguard agreed Cowes Lifeboat could stand down, the volunteer crew recrossed the Solent to arrive back at the station at 19:30 – over 2 hours after launching.