Fishing boat rescue by Wells RNLI
It had got into trouble at sea
Last updated 14th Sep 2020
Wells All Weather Lifeboat was paged on Sunday (13 September) at 5.45 pm by Humber Coast Guard to render assistance to a ten-metre fishing boat with one crew member onboard. The boat had suffered main engine failure. The crew member had tried to repair the engine without success and, in doing so, had aggravated a pre-existing medical condition. The crew member had managed to drop anchor south of Docking Shoal about 12 miles north-west of the lifeboat station.
The lifeboat launched outside the boathouse with a crew of six on the ebbing tide at 6.00 pm and sighted the boat at 6.39 pm. It was decided to put a crew member onboard to assess the crew member's medical condition and to rig up a tow. No medical assistance was required but, before the tow could start, the lifeboat crew had to clear the vessel's anchor which had become entangled in some fishing gear. The tow began at 7.03 pm in favourable sea conditions.
In consultation with the Wells harbourmaster, it was decided to tow the vessel back to safe water close to the harbour entrance and anchor the vessel overnight to await the early morning flood tide when there would be sufficient water to bring the vessel into port. It was confirmed that the crew member was fit to remain on board overnight and at 8.17 pm the fishing boat was safely anchored in the approaches to Wells harbour. Satisfied that no further assistance was required, the RNLI crew member returned to the lifeboat, which then had a low water recovery in Holkham bay and was back on station, sanitised, refuelled and ready again for service at 10.30 pm.