Yesterday, on 28th August 2019, a new crane was fitted on the St Peter Port lifeboat.
This important piece of equipment has a number of uses including launching the Y boat.
Photos by Carl Bisson
colin
At 0620 on Wednesday 21st August 2019, Guernsey Coastguard received a PAN PAN call from 35ft yacht “Dabbler” with 3 persons onboard reporting engine failure approximately 3 miles north west of Lihou Island. The vessel was in no immediate danger however, she was making slow progress under sail due to light winds and was concerned about her ability to berth without an engine on arrival in St Peter Port.
Dabbler was asked to contact Guernsey Coastguard every 30 minutes with a progress update however, after an hour, she had failed to check in. Subsequent calls to the vessel failed and given the fact that the tide was shortly due to turn to the north, St Peter Port All Weather Lifeboat “Spirit of Guernsey” was launched at 0815 to locate the yacht.
Search plans were prepared by Guernsey Coastguard however, once in the vicinity of the Hanois Lighthouse, Spirit of Guernsey was able to quickly locate the vessel. She had made better progress under sail than anticipated and communications were reestablished with the Coastguard. Once everything was confirmed to be OK onboard, the Lifeboat was stood down and Dabbler continued under sail to St Peter Port.
The all weather lifeboat (ALB) Spirit of Guernsey was launched at 14:10 on Monday 12th August 2019 to go to the assistance of the French yacht Datf with two people on board, who had broadcast a Mayday after becoming entangled in fishing gear.
The vessel was approximately 2.5 miles north of Grande Amfroque and was tethered to the bottom by the gear.
The lifeboat was alongside at 14:31, cut the Datf free, established a tow, and was back in St Peter Port with the casualty at 16:30.
The Spirit of Guernsey was back on station at 16:51
At 1505 on Sunday 11th August 2019, Guernsey Coastguard received a call from 38ft Alderney registered angling vessel “Avante” with 7 persons onboard asking for assistance. Avante was 7 miles northeast of Guernsey and had shut down her single engine due to it overheating.
Guernsey Coastguard made a broadcast requesting assistance from vessels in the area however no response was received. St Peter Port All Weather Lifeboat “Spirit of Guernsey” launched at 1533 and proceeded to the casualty vessel arriving on scene at 1548.
Avante had restarted her engine and was making slow progress south towards St Peter Port. Spirit of Guernsey escorted her initially however, due to worsening sea conditions on the approach to Guernsey, a tow rope was attached and the lifeboat towed the vessel the remaining few miles arriving safely back in St Peter Port at 1630.
At 11:07 on Friday 9th August 2019, Guernsey Coastguard received a radio call from the 36ft motor cruiser “Mapla Dos” with 1 person on board, reporting that she had double engine failure and required assistance.
The position given by “Mapla – Dos” put her 3.4 nautical miles north of Grand Amfroque, north of Herm and due to the worsening weather condition the St Peter Port all weather lifeboat “Spirit of Guernsey” was launched to assist the casualty vessel.
A further call was received from “Mapla – Dos” a short while later informing Guernsey Coastguard that he had managed to restart one engine and was making slow progress back to St Peter Port. Again due to the worsening weather, it was decided that the lifeboat should escort the casualty vessel back to Port where they arrived safely at 13:22.
The St Peter Port Lifeboat was back on station at 13:40.
The St Peter Port All Weather Lifeboat (ALB) was launched at 03:37 on Monday 5th August 2019 to go to the assistance of the sailing vessel Rose of Savannah with 5 persons on board, which had broadcast a Pan Pan alert asking for assistance as they had lost all power and electronics and were unsure of their position.
The ALB located the vessel 10 miles north of Guernsey at 04:42. The skipper informed the lifeboat that they no longer required assistance and were proceeding to Cherbourg.
The ALB was stood down and returned to St Peter Port and was back on station at 05:27