On Saturday afternoon (1 June), Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat to launch to locate, assess and escort to safe harbour a vessel that a member of the public reported had made contact with rocks at Ryan’s Point.
Lough Derg’s inshore lifeboat Jean Spier launched at At 13.41pm with helm Owen Cavanagh, crew Joe O’Donoghue and Deirdre Gleeson on board. Conditions had a north-westerly Force 2 to 3 wind and good visibility.
A description of the craft, which was en route to Dromineer Harbour, was passed to the lifeboat, which made a quick sweep of the public harbour but did not see a vessel that fitted the description given.
The lifeboat made way to Ryan’s Point but there was no vessel at that location. The RNLI volunteers spoke to the skipper of a vessel at anchor in the centre of the bay, but they had not seen a vessel in distress.
After returning to the public harbour, the lifeboat crew located a motor boat that fitted the description supplied to Valentia Coast Guard. The vessel had recently passed Ryan’s Point but, according to the skipper, had not made contact with rocks and was not in need of assistance.
The lifeboat reported its findings to Valentia Coast Guard, departed the scene and was back at station at 2.18pm.
Christine O’Malley, lifeboat operations manager at Lough Derg RNLI advises boat users to “observe the navigation marks and be aware that there are sudden shallows and rocky shoals close to the shore”.