Rhyl’s volunteer crews on both lifeboats were kept very busy on Good Friday, with 7 launches for the Inshore lifeboat, and 1 launch with the All-Weather lifeboat.
The inshore lifeboat was called out between 1100 and 1835, dealing with various incidents, including people trapped by the incoming tide; dinghies being blown offshore; and small vessels in difficulty. 10 people in total were assisted.
The All-weather lifeboat crew were paged at 1835 to go to the assistance of a 10m boat “Ann Elizabeth 2” who had engine failure and no steerage with 5 people on board, about 9 miles North-North-West of the station. The lifeboat was on scene within 50 minutes, and discovered the boat was on passage from Liverpool to Anglesey.
As it was nearer to Liverpool than Anglesey, the coastguards requested the boat be towed back to Liverpool. The boat had a VHF radio and mobile phones, but they both proved difficult to contact the coastguard that distance from the coast. The boat was taken in tow, and the lifeboat proceeded to Liverpool. Hoylake lifeboat was requested to launch to take the boat up the River Mersey, and the 2 lifeboats met about 3 miles north of Hoylake lifeboat station. The tow was transferred and Rhyl lifeboat was released to return to station, returning at 2210. The boat was towed to Liverpool by Hoylake lifeboat.
