PAGERS went off five minutes before the Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat annual open day was due to start on Sunday, August 4th.
The lifeboat immediately launched to go to the assistance of a rib (rigid inflatable boat) that had experienced mechanical breakdown with 13 persons aboard.
Lifeboat Annette Hutton launched under the command of coxswain Dean Hegarty with mechanic David O’Donovan and crew John Paul Downey, Kyle Cronin, Andrew O’Neill and William Power.
The lifeboat located the stricken vessel at the Bardini Reefer, a wreck in Bearhaven Harbour between Bere Island and the mainland. The weather on-scene was described as ‘calm’.
The 13 divers, members of a university sub-aqua club, were found to be safe and well. The dive boat was unable to manoeuvre due to damage and the decision was made to tow the vessel as it posed a potential navigational hazard to other vessels. The divers were taken aboard the lifeboat and the damaged vessel towed to Castletownbere. At this point, the crowd patiently waiting to visit the lifeboat had grown, and, within fifteen minutes, the lifeboat was open to the public.
Lifeboat operations manager, Paul Stevens, said the divers were very grateful to the lifeboat crew for their help. ‘It is the first time we had a lifeboat open day without a lifeboat! Members of the public were able to view the lifeboat launch, and eventually got on board the boat.’
