#Lifeboats - Arklow RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat crew left their Sunday lunch on 23 September to attend to a fishing vessel in difficulty east of Cahore Point in Co Wexford.
Once the vessel and its crew of three were located, it was established that while it had power, it could not make any headway due to its propeller being fouled with fishing gear.
The lifeboat volunteers rigged a tow line and set up for a long slow tow home to Arklow. All hands came ashore safely some five hours later.
Mark Corcoran, community safety officer at Arklow RNLI, said: “We would like to remind people to respect the water and always wear a lifejacket and carry a means of calling for help when going out on the water.”
The previous evening, Skerries RNLI was tasked to another fishing vessel which suffered mechanical failure and lost engine power less than half a mile north of Skerries harbour.
The struggling 22m fishing boat, with a crew of seven on board, was well lit and visible from the shore so the Atlantic 85 lifeboat Louis Simson made its way quickly alongside.
With the fishing vessel drifting dangerously close to the shore, it was decided to establish a tow to bring safely alongside the harbour.
Speaking about the callout, volunteer lifeboat press officer Gerry Canning said: “This was quite a large vessel for us to take under tow, but the conditions were very fair on the night and the Atlantic 85 was very much up to the job.”