Rhyl All-Weather lifeboat volunteer crew were called out at 1330 on Wednesday 16th February after the large yacht “Proteus”, on passage from Conwy to Barrow-in-Furness, suffered a broken propeller shaft and was taking in water.
The 4-man crew were preparing to abandon the yacht, but assistance was given by the Gas Rig support vessel “Vos Inspirer” to stand by whilst the flow of water was stemmed.
The yacht was some 20 miles north of Rhyl, and the lifeboat crew took nearly 90 minutes to get on scene. By this time, the crew of the yacht had decided to return to Conwy, and so the lifeboat crew took up duties to stand by the yacht, and the Rig support vessel was stood down.
It took nearly 3 hours for the boats to get off the entrance to the River Conwy, where Rhyl lifeboat was relieved by Llandudno lifeboat, who towed the yacht into Conwy Marina, as the yacht had no propulsion of its own. Rhyl lifeboat then returned to Rhyl by 2000, with Llandudno returning some 30 minutes later. the whole operation had taken nearly 7 hours.
