ANGLE’S all-weather lifeboat was alerted twice in two days to help yachts recently.

A 13 metre yacht, which fouled her propeller two miles south-west of Skomer Island, was towed to safety on August 17 by the Tamar class lifeboat Mark Mason.

It was launched at 1.29am, at the request of the UK Coastguard, after a ‘pan pan’ broadcast from the yacht, on passage to Ireland with five people on board.

The yacht’s propeller had become fouled on a pot buoy, anchoring her to the seabed.

The lifeboat arrived on the scene at 2.05am to find the yacht lying stern to the weather and tide with the pot buoy visible as the yacht was pitching and rolling due to the sea conditions.

After several attempts to secure a grapnel to the buoy line, the line parted and the yacht was now drifting with the propeller still fouled. The skipper of the yacht decided to raise the sails. However, it was soon evident that the fouled propeller was also obstructing the steering.

A tow was rigged by the lifeboat and the vessel was taken to the Mackerel Stage at Milford, the lifeboat then returned to her station, after nearly five hours at sea.

The following day, the all-weather lifeboat launched to the report of a yacht, with three people on board, in difficulty off Rudders Boatyard, Burton.

The lifeboat was launched at 6.18pm and as she was approaching Pembroke Dock, information was received that a small vessel had taken two of the crew off the yacht, now aground with one person remaining on board.

The lifeboat arrived on the scene to find the yacht hard aground in shallow water, so the Y Boat was launched to assess the situation. It was decided to deploy the yacht’s anchor to aid the recovery at the next high water.

The occupant was taken to the pontoon at Rudders Boatyard, where Coastguard rescue officers were waiting.