#RNLI - Courtmacsherry RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat Frederick Storey Cockburn was called out at 9pm on Friday night (3 August) to go to the aid of a 36ft yacht adrift some 18 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale in West Cork.

Under coxswain Sean O’Farrell and a crew of six, the lifeboat was underway within minutes, travelling at its top speed of 25 knots, and located the vessel at 10.30pm.

The yacht had been on passage from the Isle of Wight when it lost power and its crew sent out a distress message to the Irish Coast Guard.

The lifeboat immediately attached a tow rope to the casualty and proceeded to tow the yacht, which had four crew onboard, slowly and safely back to Courtmacsherry Harbour.

Friday night’s callout was the first to use the Courtmacsherry station’s early warning message Siren, which will now be part of every callout in order to alert people in the water nearby or the public in the village that a lifeboat call is in progress.

Lifeboat operations manager Brian O’Dwyer said: “It’s been the busiest six weeks for many a year and many thanks to all the volunteers at the station for always putting the rescue of others ahead of all their other interests.”

The busy time continued over the August Bank Holiday weekend as the Courtmacsherry lifeboat was called at 12.20pm n Saturday afternoon (4 August) to a pleasure cruiser in difficulty off the Seven Heads peninsula.

The casualty boat, with three on board, had fouled its propellers and lost power while on passage to Castletownshend, having departed Crosshaven the previous day.

Once again under coxswain Sean O’Farrell, the lifeboat towed the stricken vessel back to the safe surrounds of the Courtmacsherry Pier Pontoon.

#RNLI - Courtmacsherry RNLI rescued six people yesterday afternoon (Sunday 22 July) when their 20ft RIB dive boat got into difficulties at the Old Head of Kinsale.

The all-weather lifeboat under coxswain Kevin Young and a crew of six launched at 1.20pm on a busy Sunday to the casualty vessel at the western Hole Open.

Weather conditions were good with a reasonable wind blowing.

The lifeboat reached the distressed RIB within 15 minutes and immediately took the boat under tow and away from the danger of the rocky shoreline.

All arrived back in the safe surrounds of Courtmacsherry Harbour at 3.20pm, and the lifeboat refuelled and returned to its mooring in readiness for any further callout.

#RNLI - For more than 100 years, the crews of Courtmacsherry Harbour Lifeboat Station have laid a wreath over the site of RMS Lusitania.

In Courtmacsherry Bay, the old British Royal Navy watch tower of the Seven Heads peninsula is the closest point of land to the Lusitania tragedy at 11.2 nautical miles.

Courtmacsherry Harbour is also home to a one of the earliest established lifeboat stations in Ireland, founded in 1825, and at the time of the Lusitania tragedy located at Barry’s Point in Courtmacsherry.

On 7 May 1915, the Lusitania, a British Cunard line ocean liner, was on passage from New York when she was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat south of Courtmacsherry Bay, with the loss of 1,201 lives.

The Courtmacsherry RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew was alerted to the tragedy and due to the fine weather that day, the sails were of no use, so they rowed the Kezia Gwilt lifeboat to the scene of the sinking.

The sea was strewn with the dead, some with lifebelts on, others holding on to pieces of rafts. The volunteers of the Kezia Gwilt spent six hours on scene, taking bodies from the water.

In 2015, the present lifeboat crew and residents of Courtmacsherry village, many of whom are related to the original 1915 lifeboat crew who were called to service, staged a re-enactment of that heroic row by the then lifeboat crew to the site of the Lusitania.

Since that ill-fated day in 1915, the crew of Courtmacsherry RNLI annually pay tribute to those lost by laying a wreath over the wreck of RMS Lusitania.

If anyone would like the crew to lay a wreath on their behalf for those lost on the Lusitania, they can bring it to Courtmacsherry Harbour Lifeboat Station before 12.30pm on Monday 7 May.

#RNLI - Courtmacsherry RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat was called out at 7pm on Saturday night (11 November) to go to the aid of an 80ft fishing boat that got into difficulties 15 miles south of the Seven Heads in West Cork.

The Trent class lifeboat, under coxswain Ken Cashman with a crew of five, launched immediately and proceeded at full speed to the distress area as the large trawler with four crew onboard sought assistance.

The stricken vessel was located by the lifeboat at 7.45pm and an immediate tow was put in place, proceeding at low speed back to the safe haven of Kinsale.

Weather conditions in the area at the time were misty with Force 3-4 winds and a strong swell.

Courtmacsherry RNLI lifeboat operations manager Brian O’Dwyer praised the crew for carrying out the rescue with great speed and professionalism.

He also thanked them and all station personnel for skipping Ireland’s important soccer battle in Copenhagen in order to help others in distress.

The crew of the lifeboat were coxswain Ken Cashman, mechanic Stuart Russell, Ciaran Hurley, Conor Dullea, Denis Murphy and Evin O’Sullivan.

#Rowing: Monika Dukarska won her heat at the World Coastal Rowing Championships in Thonon in France this morning. She qualified for Saturday’s A Final of the Coastal Women’s Solo. Two other Ireland competitors, Jessica Lee of Killorglin and Jeanne O’Gorman of Arklow,  will compete in the B Final after placing 13^th and 16^th respectively.

 The women’s coxed quadruple from Castletownbere finished ninth in their heat and made the A Final, while Cairndhu and Courtmacsherry will compete in a B Final. They finished 12^th and 13^th in their heat.  

 The Galley Flash men’s double of David Duggan and Mark O’Brien finished 11^th in their heat and go to the B Final.

 Dukarska is the defending champion in the women’s solo.

World Coastal Rowing Championships, Thonon, France, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest)

Men

Double – Heats (First Seven to A Final; 8 to 13 to B Final) Heat Two: 11 Galley Flash.

Single – Heats (First Seven to A Final; 8 to 13 to B Final): Heat One: 6 Castletownbere (A Sullivan-Greene), 7 Arklow (J Casey). Heat Two: 10 Galley Flash (B Hooper). Heat Three: 7 Bantry (A Hurley); 8 Arklow (A Goodison)

Women

Quadruple, Coxed – Heats (First 10 to A Final; rest to B Final) Heat One: 12 Cairndhu, 13 Courtmacsherry. Heat Two: 9 Castletownbere; 13 Galley Flash.

Double – Heats (First 10 to A Final; rest to B Final) Heat One : 14 Arklow

Solo – Heats (First 10 to A Final; rest to B Final) Heat One: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska) 20 min 44.83 sec; 13 Killorglin (J Lee); 16 Arklow (J O’Gorman). Heat Two: 10 Arklow (S Healy); 16 Arklow (V Annesley).

#CoastalRowing: Galley Flash won the senior men’s title at the All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships in Ballyshannon, Donegal. The West Cork crew led for virtually all the race from local rivals Kilmacsimon, with Courtmacsherry always in third.

 Vartry won the intermediate title by two lengths.

 Workmen’s from Kerry won a good final of the Senior Ladies competition. Galley Flash led early on, but Workmen’s had taken the lead by the turn and went on to forge a clearwater advantage, though Galley Flash finished well.

All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships, Ballyshannon, Donegal (Selected Results)

Men

Senior: 1 Galley Flash 11 min 16 sec, 2 Kilmacsimon 11:21, 3 Courtmacsherry 11:26. Intermediate: Vartry. Junior: Ring. ­

Women

Senior: 1 Workmen’s 7:34, 2 Galley Flash 7:38, 3 Kilmacabea 7:49. Inter: Worken’s A 7:42. Jun: Kilmacsimon.

#RNLI - Courtmacsherry RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat was called out at 4.20pm yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 1 August) to go to the aid of a 40ft pleasure fishing boat with mechanical failure 15 miles off the Seven Heads in West Cork.

The Courtmacsherry Lifeboat, under coxswain Kevin Young and with a crew of six, launched in minutes and reached the stricken boat just after 5pm.

On scene near the Lusitania site, the lifeboat secured a tow line to the vessel and then proceeded to tow it back to the safe haven of Courtmacsherry’s inner harbour.

All six on the pleasure boat were safely returned to Courtmacsherry Pontoon at 8pm.

Weather conditions on the callout reasonable, with winds in the area blowing Force 3-4.

The callout was the latest in what was a busy 48 hours for the voluntary crew of Courtmacsherry RNLI, with three callouts to boats in distress beginning on Sunday afternoon with the rescue of another pleasure fishing boat, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

The Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat was called out at 11.25 am this morning Sunday to go to the immediate aid of a 14–foot Pleasure boat off Harbour View in Courtmacsherry Bay.

The alert was raised from the shore as the boat was seen to have got into difficulties and was being blown by strong winds towards the coast line.

The Courtmacsherry Lifeboat under Coxswain Ken Cashman and a crew of eight launched both the Trent Class Lifeboat and the Stations Inshore boat and reached the stricken causality within 15 minutes. The pleasure boat, with four persons on board had encountered engine problems and the prevailing winds was putting it in immediate danger.

On scene, the Lifeboat assessed the difficulties with the casualty and secured a tow line to the stricken vessel and then proceeded to tow the boat away from the shoreline and subsequently brought it back to the safe haven of the Courtmacsherry inner harbour.

Conditions at sea today were blustery with Winds in the area blowing force 5/6.

The Crew on board today's callout were Coxswain Ken Cashman with the All Weather Trent Boat crew of Chris Guy, Dara Gannon, Ciaran Hurley, Denis Murphy and Evin O Sullivan. The stations inshore boat was Helmed by Kevin Young and Mark John Gannon.

Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat Station LPO Vincent O Donovan commented, " We are pleased that our Lifeboat was again very fast away today with eight volunteers quickly responding within two minutes and that the rescue was carried out efficiently and very quickly"

He also appealed to all that are using the water over these busy holiday weeks to " take great care of the safety measures associated with your pleasure craft and that Life Jackets are always worn by all persons on board your boat".

#RNLI - Courtmacsherry RNLI's all-weather lifeboat was called out at 11.30am yesterday morning (Wednesday 17 May) to go to the aid of a 70ft fishing vessel that sought assistance 10 miles south east of the Old Head of Kinsale in West Cork.

Under coxswain Sean O'Farrell with a crew of six, the lifeboat launched immediately and reached the stricken vessel at 12.15pm.

The fishing boat, with four people on board, had encountered difficulties with its power and other mechanical failure while trawling in the area and required help.

On scene, the volunteer lifeboat crew assessed the difficulties and took the fishing vessel in tow. Both boats arrived back into Kinsale at 4pm.

Conditions at sea were reasonable, with winds in the area blowing Force 3-4 but rising from early afternoon.

Dermot O'Mahony, Courtmacsherry RNLI deputy launching authority, commented after the callout: “We are so pleased that our lifeboat was again fast away today with our ever ready volunteers always available and that the rescue was carried out with skill and precision.”

#RNLI - RNLI lifeboats from Wicklow and Courtmacsherry have responded to two separate calls from fishing boats in difficulty around the Irish coast in recent days.

A trawler with three fishermen onboard was towed to safety by Wicklow RNLI yesterday morning (Thursday 10 November) after it lost all power 10 miles offshore.

The all-weather lifeboat, under the command of coxswain Nick Keogh and a volunteer crew, launched shortly after 10am and were alongside the stricken fishing vessel 40 minutes later.

The skipper had dropped an anchor, but it had dragged and the vessel had drifted a short distance south with the tide. Conditions in the area had a slight sea state, with northwesterly winds of Force 2-3 and good visibility.

The Naval Service patrol vessel LÉ Orla and the work vessel Wildcat 2 also stood by the trawler as the lifeboat crew established a towline.

The trawler, with three crew on board, was then towed back to Wicklow and brought safely alongside the South Quay at 12.15pm.

The previous evening (Wednesday 9 November), Courtmacsherry RNLI's all-weather lifeboat was called out at 10.15pm to aid a 65ft fishing vessel in difficulty 25 miles south of the Old Head of Kinsale in West Cork.

The lifeboat, under coxswain Sean O'Farrell and a crew of six, launched immediately and located the casualty at 11.25pm. Conditions at sea were reasonable, with winds in the area blowing 26 knots.

The fishing boat, with three people on board had encountered trouble with its power while trawling in the area and required assistance.

On scene, the lifeboat quickly assessed the difficulties and for the next two hours, the lifeboat and stricken vessel proceeded back at low speed to Kinsale, where the boat was safely berthed at 1.45am.

The crew on board Wednesday night’s callout with O'Farrell were mechanic Stewart Russell, Ken Cashman, Donal Young, Ciaran Hurley, Denis Murphy and Conor Tyndall.