[T]HE volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow station launched their all-weather lifeboat this morning, Saturday 30th June 2018, to go to the aid of a boat which had broken down off the west side of Walney Island.
The call for assistance came from HM Coastguard at Holyhead at 7:45am.
The information received was that a 16-foot (4.9 metres) boat, with three people on board, had lost engine power at a position off the west side of Walney Island.
The crew was paged and the all-weather lifeboat, ‘Grace Dixon’, was launched at 8:10am under the command of Coxswain, Jonny Long, assisted by five crew members.
The lifeboat headed towards the west side of Walney Island and was at the scene of the incident at 8:52am.
It was established that the casualty vessel had launched several hours earlier from Earnse Bay. However, as low water had just passed at 7-57am there was insufficient water depth available for the lifeboat to be able to reach the casualty vessel.
The decision was then taken to launch the inflatable ‘Y boat’ which is carried on board the ‘Grace Dixon’ and which is suitable for shallow water rescues.
The Y boat was able to take the casualty vessel under tow and it was safely returned to the beach at Earnse Bay at 9:35am. Furness Coastguard and Duddon Inshore Rescue also attended the incident along with the local vessel, ‘Argus G’ from Bay Towage and Salvage.
With the casualty vessel and its crew safe, the ‘Grace Dixon’ returned to the lifeboat station at 10:15am where it was made ready for the next launch.
The wind at the time of the incident was easterly, Force 3, and the high tide had passed at 1:20am with a height of 8.7 metres.
