Port Talbot RNLI tow pleasure cruiser to safety

Port Talbot RNLI lifeboat was tasked at 9:15pm, 4th June, to a broken down cruiser off the mouth of the River Neath.

The lifeboat was soon on scene and found the seventeen foot cruiser, with two persons on board, had suffered engine failure and had dropped its anchor to prevent drifting on the outgoing tide.

A crewman was put aboard to assist the people in establishing a tow. The lifeboat then proceeded to tow the boat upriver to the Monkstone Cruising and Sailing club slipway.

Due to the ebbing tide there was a large stretch of mud between the boat and the end of the slipway and it was impossible for the owners to recover the boat onto its trailer. The decision was made to put mooring ropes from the boat to the slipway so the boat could be refloated on the next tide. This was done with help from the lifeboat crew and local coastguards. Port Talbot lifeboat then returned to station.

Photograph: RNLI/Mel Cooper
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