[T]he volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow station were requested to launch their all-weather lifeboat this afternoon, Friday 7th July 2017, to assist in the recovery of a motor cruiser which had suffered engine failure.
The request to launch the lifeboat came from HM Coastguard at Holyhead shortly before midday today. The information received was that a 27’ motor cruiser with three people on board and located some 3 miles south east of Piel Island had lost all engine power.
The lifeboat crew were paged and the all-weather lifeboat, ‘Grace Dixon’, was launched at 12:16pm under the command of Coxswain, Jonny Long.
The casualty vessel had been able to provide the Coastguard with accurate information regarding its position and this made it easier for the lifeboat to locate it. The lifeboat was alongside the casualty at 12:28pm and a line was attached. The vessel was then taken under tow and secured to a mooring adjacent to Piel Channel in order for engine repairs to be carried out.
The ‘Grace Dixon’ then returned to the lifeboat station at 1:30pm and after being washed down was made ready for the next launch.
The wind at the time of the call-out was westerly Force 3-4 and the high tide had been at 11:19am with a predicted height of 8.1 metres.