#Kayaking - The Irish Times reports that a man has died after being swept away while kayaking on the River Inchavore near Lough Dan in Co Wicklow.

The man, who has yet been unnamed, was out on the popular kayaking stretch yesterday (13 November) with around six others during heavy rain that quickly swelled the river's waters.

Two other kayakers were airlifted with the casualty to Tallaght Hospital but they are not believed to be injured.

#RNLI - Wicklow RNLI's inshore lifeboat launched at 11.25am yesterday morning (Thursday 16 October) to assist a small fishing boat with engine failure.

Speaking after the callout, lifeboat helm Graham Fitzgerald said: "We located the boat with two occupants drifting about one mile north of Wicklow Harbour.

"The fishermen were experiencing mechanical problems with the outboard engine. So we rigged a tow line and brought the vessel back to the harbour."

The crew on the callout were Fitzgerald, Alan Goucher and John Vize.

#RNLI - Wicklow RNLI rescued a male swimmer who got into difficulty yesterday afternoon (Thursday 4 September).

The rescue followed a request from the Irish Coast Guard for the volunteer lifeboat crew to search for a missing swimmer at Silver Strand beach.

The alarm was raised by the swimmer’s wife who was concerned for his safety and by members of the public who heard his call for help.

The all-weather lifeboat had already launched at 2.30pm and was on her way to meet and escort a former visiting lifeboat into the harbour when it was requested.

The lifeboat diverted immediately and proceeded south towards Wicklow Head to begin a search. The inshore lifeboat also launched to assist. Weather conditions and visibility in the area were good at the time.

During the search, a person was spotted in the water about one mile offshore near Brides head.

The all-weather lifeboat, under the command of second coxswain Ciaran Doyle, was quickly alongside the casualty. Crewmember Matt Doyle took him from the water using a scramble net.

First aid was administered to the exhausted man by Carol Flahive as the lifeboat made its way back to Wicklow Harbour.

The lifeboat was met on arrival at the East Pier by a waiting ambulance, where the swimmer was treated by paramedics. He did not need to be hospitalised.

It was quickly established that the man had been swimming off Silver Strand when he was carried quite a distance north with the tide and strong currents, which prevented him getting ashore.

At Wicklow Head, he was swept further out to sea. That's when members of the public on the cliff contacted the coastguard after hearing his call for help.

Speaking after the callout, Wicklow RNLI lifeboat operations manager Des Davitt said: "The swimmer was extremely lucky today to be spotted so quickly by the crew and thankfully a tragic outcome was avoided."

#RNLI - Rosslare RNLI was called out twice yesterday afternoon (Friday 22 August) to help two separate boats with ropes wrapped around their propellers.

In the space of two hours, both boats – a RIB with two people on board off Carna Pier and a motor cruiser with two on board near Waterford Harbour – were freed by the volunteer lifeboat crew.

The double callout also came on the last day for retiring lifeboat operations manager Michael Doyle.

"Two callouts in one afternoon is a fitting way to say goodbye," said Rosslare RNLI volunteer lifeboat press officer Jamie Ryan.

"Thankfully both call outs were to vessels that had their propellers fouled and no lives were in danger. The lifeboat is there to help anyone in trouble at sea and we were happy to provide assistance in these two cases."

Elsewhere on the east coast, Wicklow RNLI's all-weather lifeboat launched at 4am yesterday morning to the aid a yacht in difficulty eight miles north of Wicklow Harbour.

The yacht was on passage to Greystones when the propeller became fouled in ropes and was unable to make any headway.

"We located the yacht with four people one mile south-east of Greystones Harbour," said coxswain Nick Keogh. "Two lifeboat crew were transferred onto the yacht to assess the situation and they managed to clear the rope obstructing the propeller.

"With the propeller free the yacht was able to make her way into Greystones under its own power."

#rnli – Both Wicklow RNLI lifeboats launched at 1.40pm (Saturday 26 July) this afternoon after a small boat with four occupants sank eight miles north east of Wicklow harbour.

The 17ft motor boat with two adults and two young children began to take water when the skipper managed to radio a distress call before the boat sank. The family spent a short time in the water before a nearby fishing vessel picked them up. The trawler was asked to proceed back towards Wicklow to meet the lifeboat.

The inshore lifeboat was alongside the fishing vessel twenty minutes after launching. Two lifeboat crew were put on board the fishing vessel to access the casualties, who were then transferred to the all weather lifeboat, as they were showing signs of hypothermia and shock. An ambulance was requested to meet the lifeboat on arrival.

The lifeboat landed two adults and two young children at the South Quay after 2-30pm, where they were met by an ambulance crew. They were checked out and later released unharmed by their ordeal.

Speaking after the callout LOM Des Davitt said 'The boat sank very quickly and the four people were adrift in the water. If it was not for the swift action by the crew of the fishing vessel, this might have had a more serious outcome.'

#RNLI - Both Wicklow RNLI lifeboats launched after 4.15pm yesterday afternoon (Thursday 24 July) to assist a vessel aground near Travelahawk beach south of Wicklow Harbour.

The alarm was raised after the owner of a motor boat put out a distress call on marine VHF radio to say his vessel was aground on rocks and they required assistance.

The inshore and all-weather lifeboats were on scene minutes later and found there were two boats aground.

A lifeboat crew member was transferred onto the boats from the inshore lifeboat to assist with rigging tow lines. The inshore lifeboat then towed a small hire boat with three occupants off the rocks and brought them to safety at Wicklow Harbour.

The larger motor boat was successfully refloated by the all-weather lifeboat crew and towed into Wicklow Harbour, where its two passengers were landed safely at the East Pier.

#RNLI - Wicklow RNLI's inshore lifeboat launched at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon (23 July) to rescue a sheep trapped in a cave and in danger of drowning as the tide rose.

Two attempts had already been made to recover the sheep by its farmer, but he was unable to get down the rocks safely, so the lifeboat crew were asked if they could help.

The inshore lifeboat was on scene at 3.35pm at Mizen Head, south of Brittas Bay beach, where the crew successfully retrieved the animal from the cave. 

The frightened but uninjured sheep was reunited with its owner a short time later on a nearby beach.

The lifeboat crew on this callout were helm Alan Gouche, Lisa O'Leary and Graham Fitzgerald.

#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.

#roundireland14 – Can there be any ocean race of similar length that offers intrigue, excitement, drama, joy and despair to the same extent that the Round Ireland does? 

What about the tight finish that saw only 7 minutes separating winner Tanit from Ruth in second place. How about Cavatina, much fancied before and after the start, on the water leader for 450 miles before fickle winds relegated her to a finish outside the top five. Think of the cruel luck of Amazing Grace, valiantly fighting back after a start line collision that cost her two hours of actual time and at least three more from missing the tide, only to break her boom when she had largely eliminated the deficit.

After recognising the great achievement of Richard Harris’ Clyde based Sydney 36 Tanit, much sympathy is reserved for Liam Shanahan and crew aboard the J109 Ruth.  On Thursday morning we said “With only 45 miles to go at 4am, the forecast suggests that Ruth will enjoy a fairly steady breeze of medium strength for the final fetch to the finish.”  Talk about putting the mockers on it!  4 hours later the wheels came off Ruth’s wagon and it took her 4.5 hours to cover 10 miles as the wind fell away.  She still made a valiant effort to get across the line, missing out on overall honours by just 7 minutes after 5 days of racing.

Congratulations Tanit, deserved winners of the 2014 Round Ireland Yacht Race.

For those of us living the race vicariously, the Yellowbrick tracker has contributed enormously to our enjoyment so kudos to Wicklow Sailing Club and the RORC for its supply. Roll on 2016!

#RNLI – Wicklow RNLI all weather and inshore lifeboats launched this afternoon (Wednesday 2 July 2014) to three incidents involving four people on Silver Strand beach in Wicklow. The alarm was raised initially for a woman who was spotted in difficulty in the water and who had been swept into a cave. This was followed, with the assistance of the Coast Guard Helicopter, by the rescue of two people who had become injured on rocks and needed medical attention. The lifeboat crew were then called on to assist a woman on the beach who had become unwell.

The Wicklow RNLI lifeboats launched at 3.39pm this afternoon to a report of a woman in difficultly in the water at Silver Strand beach, one mile south of Wicklow Head. The Wicklow inshore lifeboat crew found it difficult to locate the casualty and following a search with help from a member of the public on the shore, the lifeboat crew found the woman at the rear of a cave close to the beach. A crewmember then entered the water and swam into the cave to assist the woman. He placed her in a lifejacket before assisting her from the cave to the waiting inshore lifeboat and the crew started to administer first aid, as she was showing signs of hypothermia. They then transferred the casualty to the all weather lifeboat a short distance away, which returned to the shore and was met by an ambulance.

The inshore lifeboat returned to the area and the volunteer crew was informed that two people who had earlier tried to assist the first casualty had injured themselves on rocks while trying to return to the beach. They also requested the all weather lifeboat to return to the scene and the lifeboat crew began to administer first aid. They were joined on scene by the Dublin Coast Guard helicopter and the two people were winched on-board and taken to hospital.

While returning to the inshore lifeboat a crew member was made aware of a further person who needed assistance after they became unwell following their attempt to go to also go to the aid of the first casualty. Due to the lack of access for an ambulance the Coxswain requested the casualty be transferred by lifeboat and was taken ashore and met by ambulance.
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Commenting on the day's events Wicklow RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Des Davitt said, 'This was an extremely busy afternoon for the lifeboat crew. What started as a callout to assist one person in trouble turned into a series of events which led to four people needing urgent attention.

It is very easy for people to get themselves into difficulty while they are at the beach and the rescue services are trained and available to deal with these situations. .

Both the RNLI and the Coast Guard helicopter responded to today's callout and ensured that the group were brought to safety and seen immediately for medical treatment.'