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.