Ryde Inshore Rescue have experienced a busy afternoon afloat on the Solent with two shouts within just hours of each other.
Whilst 3 volunteer crew members were on station at Appley fine tuning new communications hardware and overseeing the repair of the lifeboat’s launch vehicle, the independent lifeboat was paged by Solent Coastguard to assist a 36ft yacht who had put a Mayday call out because they were stuck on Ryde Sands.
Having been paged at 14:25, Ryde Rescue 1 was afloat and on scene with the casualty yacht ‘Bavaria‘ within just 10 minutes once a launch crew member arrived on station.
Having placed a member of the volunteer crew on board the yacht and checked that no one was injured and there was no water ingress, Ryde Rescue 1’s Coxswain made a quick check on the depth of water around the boat before deciding the best plan of attack, as the boat had come over the outer bank and was in the lagoon on Ryde sands.
With the tide rising and the stricken yacht almost fully afloat, it was decided to keep the crewman on board and raise the anchor allowing RR1 to escort ‘Bavaria’ through a safe passage over the sand bank into deeper water. Once in deeper water safety advice was given including the difference between a Mayday and a Pan Pan.
Ryde Rescue 1 was recovered to station at 15:45 and made ready for the next tasking, which came sooner than expected…
At 16:15 Ryde Inshore Rescue were paged to their second shout of the afternoon to what was described as a 23ft cabin cruiser that had left Ryde Harbour and had suffered engine failure and was taking on water.
Ryde Rescue 1 was once again on scene in 10 minutes of being paged, where they were greeted by this boat. After trying to find enough points to attach tow lines, RR1 took the cruiser in a hip tow back into Ryde Harbour.
The assistance of a Coastguard Rescue unit was requested due to the state of the boat and the amazement that the owner was attempting to take it to another port in a Force 6 WNW wind.
Upon arrival at Ryde Harbour the Coastguard team spoke with the owner. RR1 was then released to return to station and made ready for next tasking at 17:20.
Photographs thanks to Ryde Rescue
