Launch Stories

22nd May - B830 Launched to the aid of a yacht aground on the Goodwn Sands

Lifeboat shouts can cause all sorts of personal difficulties for those able to respond to the pager going off.  I was in one of those situations at 4.26 pm on the 22nd of May 2009.  My wife away from home for a few days and I was left holding the fort with my two sons aged 5 and 9.  I was still working from home with the aim of finishing at 5 pm.  Confronted with locking the house up and getting shoes on little boys before I left, I was not going to be first down the station that afternoon.  Securely in the car and with 1 minute 15 seconds to go before we reach the lifeboat station is was a good opportunity to pep talk the boys to stay out the way and watch from the top of the beach and if there was a shortage of crew and the situation desperate and I was needed to crew then they were to make their way to the crew room and stay there until Les told them otherwise.  It never came to it, Matt, Andy, Martin, Sam, and Adam had beaten me to it. 

My contribution to events soon came to an end, I placed the hand held VHF radio in its pocket on the Douglas Murray, our relief Atlantic 85 lifeboat, closed a hatch on the starboard side, received helmets from helpers below and clipped them to the handles of the boat for the crew and dismounted.

The launch was as usual quick and watchers from the beach could see that Douglas Murray, made good progress for 2 to 3 miles towards the south east, thereafter the sea conditions slowed progress with some spectacular bursts of spray high over the boat. 

Walmer lifeboat was unable to reach the casualty directly as the Goodwin Sands were drying with low tide locally within an hour and a half , so helmsman Andy Coe took the decision to head around the southern end of the sands otherwise known as the South Calliper.  This would also allow the lifeboat to run with the waves once around the most southern tip of the sands, making the passage easier for crew and lifeboat alike.  The swell was 2 occasionally 4 meters in height once beyond the sheltering headland of Oldstairs Bay.  The sea state was influenced by a wind-over-tide situation.  The wind was 25 knots from the SW and the tide falling in the opposite direction.

The crew had launched for a May Day via VHF radio, the preferred method for mariners in distress to communicate a call for help.  A 10 metre long yacht registered in Antwerp was aground on the south eastern edge of the Goodwin Sands, approximately 1.5 nautical miles south west of the East Goodwin light ship.  Dover Coastguard had received the May Day and took ownership for the coordination of the rescue. 

15 vessels offered assistance including a vessel 17 nautical miles to the east, Dover Coastguard declined the offer for the vessel to return to the sands, but took up the offer from a car carrier making its way southwards into the traffic separation scheme, north of the Goodwin sands.  The vessel was able to see the mast of the yacht Gema, with the foresail still up and was asked to standby until the RNLI arrived on scene.  The car carrier would provide a useful visual fix for Walmer lifeboat and for the now mobilised Dover lifeboat, Severn class City of London II.  The car carrier gave Dover coastguard regular updates as to the situation of the casualty.  The car carrier could also launch its own boat is event of the situation deteriorating rapidly. 

Matt spotted the yacht on the port quarter with sail partly unfurled and Matt switched to Channel 16 to contact the yacht directly, this failed and Dover Coastguard called the yacht, relaying the message that the Douglas Murray would be there soon and to drop the sail completely.  It was obvious to the lifeboat crew that the yacht was bouncing on the sands in the swell and that there was not much time.  Anything to speed the recovery of the yacht and reduce complication could prove critical.

 

The rescue took on an international dimension when Netherlands Coastguard tried to enforce radio silence on the emergency, unwittingly aiming it at the lifeboat radio communication attempts with the casualty.  It is highly possible that they were unclear as to the part the lifeboats were playing.

Once on scene it was obvious to the Walmer crew that the vessel was being buffeted by the heavy swell, no worse than experienced during the passage, with 2 meter waves that occasionally reached 4 meters, with its keel now firmly stuck in the sand, but still upright. The tide was still falling at this time, exposing the yacht to further difficulty without assistance.  The yacht crew were uninjured but obviously shaken by their predicament.  Any approached from the north as the vessel had tried to free itself from the sands in a easterly direction with the intention of coming along the port side from the stern.  First time the lifeboat was buffeted and bumped the yacht quite hard, Andy tried again and this time Matt quickly cross decked to the yacht.  The bag frame of the Atlantic took a hit from the anchors in the bow of the yacht, but only minor damage was sustained. Sam and Martin organised the tow and Matt indicated to approach from the same direction, briefly the lifeboat touched bottom at this time.  The towline was passed successfully and Matt indicated that the tow was ready to start. 

Andy had to judge when to apply power to pull the yacht was pulled free of the sands as the waves provided temporary extra buoyancy each time one rolled through.  Not an easy task an occasionally it did not work, Andy needing to drop power each time he missed a wave, to prevent the yacht digging in.  Normally a helmsman would have to contend with one wave, the one on his bow, in this instance he had to consider the wave on the bow of the yacht too.  5 minutes later the yacht was in deeper water and Andy swung the tow around to the NE, in the direction of the East Goodwin light vessel.

Inspection of the interior by Matt confirmed that no water ingress had occurred but concern was raised about state of bulkheads within the vessel, starting the engine of the yacht might cause further damage.  The state of the yacht was radioed to Dover Coastguard and they asked whether the Douglas Murray still needed the assistance from the Dover lifeboat, Andy confirmed that he did.  At this stage it was unclear as to whether the Gema would make the tow to Ramsgate, its intended destination.  Ramsgate was the easiest port to reach as towing to Dover would have been into sea, with tide and a 25 knot head wind.  The extra lifeboat on scene would provide welcome backup in the event that the situation deteriorated. When Dover Lifeboat arrived on scene Dover Coastguard stood down the car carrier releasing it to continue on its journey.

The Douglas Murray towed Gema for approximately a mile North along the sands moving at 4 knots, the swells continued unabated and Andy took up the offer of a drogue, or sea anchor, from Stuart, the Dover Coxswain.  On occasion the lifeboat was still encountering 4 meter swells and this led to the tow tightening and slackening despite best efforts to extend the length of tow to match the wave frequency. The drogue would help prevent the yacht from broaching on the following seas, a situation where the waves push the stern of the vessel faster than the bow, turning the boat beam-on-to-sea and risking capsize.

The pace of the tow was such that Andy asked Dover lifeboat to calculate the distance to Ramsgate.  A task easier in the enclosed wheel house of an all weather lifeboat.  At 11 miles, the Douglas Murray would take 3 hours to complete the tow, this would push the Atlantic 85 to the limits of its range in terms of fuel as towing burns more fuel than normal operations and the distance and seas encountered on passage would also have demanded greater fuel consumption.  Stuart was happy to receive the tow and declined the offer of the Douglas Murray to standby and so Andy headed for Walmer.  Matt remained on board receiving the tow from the Dover lifeboat and reputedly enjoyed a fish and chips supper at Ramsgate at 10 pm that evening.

“All in all a job very well done by every one involved”.  Andy Coe, Helmsman Walmer lifeboat.

“Excellent teamwork by all units involved.  Communications were professional.  A very good outcome to a perilous situation”.  Nicola Goodban, Watch Officer, Dover Coastguard.

Thanks to Andy, Sam, Nic, for their recollections and to Dover lifeboat station who have provided the film footage of the transfer of the drogue to the Gema. (This film footage has yet to be published due to technical reasons).

 

Article by Dave Mitchell