Casteltownbere RNLI escort yacht to safety after anchor drags in Dunmanus Bay
The yacht escorted by the RNLI late last night and now moored safely.
Castletownbere RNLI came to the aid of a yacht last night anchored in the Dunmanus Bay in West Cork as deteriorating weather conditions threatened the safe mooring of the vessel.
Dropping anchor yesterday evening, the 32-foot yacht with five persons on board moored for the night near Dooneen point on the northern shore of Dunmanus Bay.
As the night progressed, the weather grew worse and the yacht began to drag its anchor leading to immediate requests for help from the Valentia Coastguard.
Annette Hutton, the Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat was tasked at 2am under the command of Coxswain Dave Fenton with crew Marney O’Donoghue, Sean ‘Bawn’ O’Sullivan, Joe Cronin, Seamus Harrington, Aaron O’Boyle and Donagh Murphy.
50 minutes later the lifeboat located the imperiled yacht and after contact agreed to escort the vessel to calmer waters. Weather conditions were described as 'Southerly, Force 5/6' by the RLNI and noted that a small craft warning was in operation.
Speaking after the operation, Mr Fenton said the skipper of the yacht had made the right decision as the conditions were so poor and it is better to be cautious.
"The yacht made the right call in seeking help and moving to a safer mooring – there was a small craft warning in operation and the weather was deteriorating – in circumstances such as these, it is always better to err on the side of caution," he said.
The lifeboat escorted the yacht from Dunmanus Bay into calmer waters and she was finally moored at Lawrence Cove Marina in Bere Island just before 06.00 this morning.
