#RNLI - The volunteer crew from Kinsale RNLI launched twice overnight on Saturday (6 August) and into the early hours of Sunday (7 August) this past weekend.
The lifeboat first launched at 9.40pm to Saturday to aid a 26ft yacht that had become propped. Visibility was poor and weather conditions were deteriorating as the vessel was located south of the Sovereign Islands.
Lifeboat crew member Aidan Henry boarded the vessel to set up a stern tow until the lifeboat reached the Charles Fort area, when the yacht was taken alongside and returned safely to the Kinsale Yacht Club marina.
Just hours later at 3.23am on Sunday morning, the emergency pagers went off for a second time in response to reports of distress flares in the Summercove area.
Nick Searls and Jonathan Connor, who attended the earlier incident, were joined by Mark Lewis as the lifeboat searched Kinsale’s inner and outer harbours in poor visibility.
Waterford's Rescue 117 helicopter and Irish Coast Guard units from Kinsale and the Old Head of Kinsale also conducted an extensive search of the area but no vessels or persons in distress were located. The operation was called off by the coastguard at 5.15am.
"Flares are there to save lives at sea and are a vital piece of equipment for any vessel," said Kinsale RNLI lifeboat operations manager John O’Gorman. "When the RNLI receives a report of a flare being released, we respond immediately.
"We would ask every member of the public to be aware that flares should only be used in a genuine emergency as it sets in train an operation involving a large number of RNLI volunteers and resources and members of other rescue services."