#RNLI - Howth RNLI continued a busy week of callouts on Wednesday evening (16 July) when the volunteer crew launched to assist a 27ft motorboat with no power drifting in the vicinity of the Nose of Howth.
The crew was alerted at 6.43pm following a distress call that a motorboat with two crew members aboard was drifting with no engine power at the mercy of the strong tide.
Weather conditions at the time were very good, with a light westerly Force 2 to 3 breeze and good visibility.
The Howth lifeboat, under coxswain Fred Connolly and with five other crew members on board, quickly located the casualty vessel and established a tow line to return the vessel and its occupants to the safety of Howth Harbour exactly an hour after the initial alert.
"The crew of the motorboat did the correct thing to call for help as soon as their vessel experienced engine trouble," said Connolly. "We are pleased that we were able to locate and tow the vessel to safety before it drifted closer to the shore."
Later that evening, Wicklow RNLI launched its all-weather lifeboat Annie Blaker to go to the aid of a 24ft yacht with mechanical problems off the Wicklow Coast.
The alarm was raised after the boat on passage south developed engine problems, With light wind, the yacht was unable to make any headway under sail, so the crew dropped anchor and contacted the Irish Coast Guard for assistance.
Wicklow's lifeboat, under the command of coxswain Nick Keogh, located the yacht – with two adults and a dog on board – one mile east of the Six Mile Point at 11.54pm. Conditions in the area were calm sea and light wind.
Crew member Kevin Rahill was transferred onto the yacht to establish a towline and assist the two sailors. Once the towline was rigged, the yacht was towed back to Wicklow Harbour, where it was safely secured alongside the East Pier by 1am.