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Displaying items by tag: Mountshannon

#Rescue - A lone sailor whose yacht ran aground on Scariff Bay over the weekend had difficulties again just hours after his rescue.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Lough Derg  RNLI launched its lifeboat on Saturday evening (14 April) to assist the 30ft yacht after it had left its mooring at Mountshannon Harbour.

The Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard was also on scene, helping to remove the yacht from a sandy bank and returning it to Mountshannon.

But the evening did not end there, as BreakingNews.ie reports, as the same yacht required coastguard assistance just a few hours later.

It emerged that the sailor was attempting to tie up his vessel at an anchor point in deeper water when it grounded in the shallows once more, and the coastguard was alerted by a concerned onlooker around 11.30pm.

The yacht was once again towed to Mountshannon Harbour and the coastguard unit returned to base at 1.30am.

Published in Rescue

Waterways Ireland say that floating moorings in Mountshannon Harbour on Lough Derg which had been closed to the public due to damage as a result of winter floods have now been reopened. 

Published in Inland Waterways

Waterways Ireland has been advised that protected White-tailed Eagles are present and breeding on Bushy Island, Lough Derg at Mountshannon, a popular boating spot.

To protect and minimise disturbance to nesting White-tailed Eagles in the area, masters of vessels are requested to observe a voluntary exclusion zone by not encroaching within 250m of the island and to proceed directly in and out of Mounsthannon harbour without stopping near the island, particularly between the months of May and August inclusive.

Masters should note that deliberate disturbance to nesting birds is illegal under the Wildlife Act (1976).

 

Published in Inland Waterways
A test flight for Ireland's first seaplane service took place in Cork Harbour on Friday afternoon. Harbour Flights Ireland has applied for planning permission to set up a landing base in Cobh to run its service having already acquired flight rights at Mountshannon, Co Clare. Test flights ran on Harbour Flights' four-seater plane. The Irish Times has a full report HERE. The company website is HERE.
Published in Cork Harbour

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

© Afloat 2020