#RNLI - A busy June bank holiday weekend for Lough Ree RNLI continued yesterday (Monday 5 June) with the rescue of six people across two grounded cruisers in a single callout.
The lifeboat crew were first alerted by the Irish Coast Guard after 10.20am to two people on board a 25ft motor cruiser that ran hard aground on rocks south of Bantry Bay near the eastern shore of the lake.
Lifeboat operations manager Tony McCarth, assisted by shore crew Denis Buckley and Eamon Flynn, had the inshore lifeboat The Eric Rowse launched and underway in less than 15 minutes, with crew members Kieron Sloyan, Emmet Devereaux and Kieran Scullion onboard.
Weather conditions at the time were calm and dry with spells of sunshine and a light Force 2 breeze.
The lifeboat crew were on scene near the casualty vessel at 11.01am. Due to the numerous rocks in the vicinity of the cruiser, crew member Emmet Devereaux left the lifeboat and waded to the cruiser to check that all onboard were uninjured and that the boat was not taking on water.
After walking the area around the boat, a deeper channel was located to safely tow the vessel to navigable water. The vessel was undamaged and the two men aboard were able to continue their journey north to Lanesborough under their own power.
As the lifeboat departed the scene, the crew noticed a 34ft motor cruiser aground a short distance away and approached the vessel to offer assistance to the two men and two women on board.
The cruiser in this case was not very hard aground and, after performing the usual checks, the vessel was towed to safe water and the four aboard continued their journey north to Lanesborough.
Speaking after the callout, Tony McCarth said: “We were happy to be able to assist both vessels today and to help these six people continue to enjoy their weekend on Lough Ree.
“Navigation markers on the lake are located so that each one can be seen from the one before. If you cannot see the next marker, slow down, check your location on your navigation chart and proceed with caution in its approximate direction until you see it.”
Yesterday’s callout was the third in as many days for the Lough Ree lifeboat, following an assist for a grounded cruiser on Sunday afternoon and a medevac for an island resident on Saturday.
