#RNLI - Skerries RNLI volunteers launched for their third callout within seven days yesterday (Saturday 04 July) following reports of a kayaker in distress off Gormanston beach.
The pagers sounded shortly after 11.30am this morning, with the lifeboat – launched with volunteer Joe May at the helm and crewed by volunteers Emma Wilson and Paddy Dillon – proceeding directly to Gormanston.
Once on scene it was established that the casualty had abandoned his vessel and his belongings and swam to shore. The crew located an inflatable kayak nearby and recovered it onto the boat to prevent any hazard to other vessels. Conditions at the time were fair with a Force 3-4 northerly wind.
On the previous Thursday evening (2 July), while on a scheduled training exercise, Skerries RNLI were tasked by Dublin Coast Guard to investigate reports of a personal water craft in difficulty near Colt Island in Skerries.
The lifeboat was on scene very quickly as they were on exercise in the area. They located the casualty and took him on board the lifeboat, towing his vessel to the safety of Skerries Harbour. After a routine assessment he was deemed to require no further assistance.
Four days before that, Skerries RNLI brought four people to safety after their racing yacht was holed when they struck rocks near Colt Island, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.