Just after 3pm on Friday afternoon Mumbles volunteer lifeboat crew went to the aid of a 25 ft fishing boat stranded 2 miles off Port Eynon.
The volunteer crew had mustered and launched to the rescue of 2 fishermen within 15 minutes.
Martin Double, Coxswain of the Mumbles all-weather lifeboat said:
‘It took us just over 40 minutes to get to the casualty vessel which had drifted some considerable way from its original position.’
In 30 mph offshore winds, the vessel was quickly making its way into shipping lanes. The skipper and crew desperately tried to resolve an electrical problem with the boats engines to no avail. The vessel was taken in tow to Swansea Marina.
Matthew Fisher, Deputy Lifeboat Operations Manager for The Mumbles said:
‘ It was quick thinking on behalf of the skipper to call the lifeboat immediately before they got into considerable danger, fortunately they had a VHF radio which made it easy for the lifeboat to use its radio direction finder to locate them. The sea was quite rough but they were in very good spirits when the crew got to them, and they made a considerable donation to the charity as a mark of gratitude’.
The RNLI has set a £150,000 fundraising target over the next three years towards a new £2.7m Tamar class boat for Mumbles. The Tamar lifeboats are the most advanced vessels operated by the RNLI, providing all weather rescue capabilities and will replace the current Tyne class rescue boat that currently serves Mumbles. The fund reached the halfway point in July thanks to the fundraising efforts of the general public.
