The volunteer crews of both of Rhyl’s RNLI lifeboats were launched at 6.50 on Sunday after Liverpool coastguard received a Mayday from a 15-feet speedboat, Oasis 118, with three adults and three children on board ,which had broken down and was drifting towards the rocks at Golden Sands Holiday camp beach, between Kinmel Bay and Towyn.
The inshore lifeboat crew arrived first, and succeeded in getting a tow line on to the boat, and pulled the craft out of the surf line by the rocks, which by now were about 20m away. Once out of the surf line, the three children were transferred to the inshore lifeboat, and the all-weather lifeboat then approached to take over the tow. The three children and the three adults were then put aboard the all-weather lifeboat, and the casualty vessel was towed back to Rhyl.
The family, from Manchester, were staying in a holiday camp in Towyn, and had launched their boat from Rhyl harbour at high tide, but their engine broke down after about an hour, and the auxiliary engine also failed. The family were all wearing lifejackets and they had a hand-held radio, but no flares. The boat was 15-feet long and had little freeboard in the waves. The children were quite anxious until they got on board the all-weather lifeboat, and one of the adults was suffering from sea-sickness and was given first aid.
This all came after the inshore lifeboat had had 4 “shouts” that afternoon. The crew had just finished polishing all the equipment for an Inspector’s exercise launch mid-week, and so have to start all over again on Monday.
Photograph: The children in Rhyl’s inshore lifeboat, and also the speedboat being towed out to sea from Towyn. By RNLI.
