KINSALE RNLI carried out their first rescue under the new RNLI Covid protocol yesterday morning when they rescued four people on board a 16ft motor boat of Barry's Head. The lifeboat 'Miss Sally Anne Baggy II' was requested to launch shortly after 11.30am to assist the motor boat off Barry's Head, near Nohoval.
The four people on board the 16ft vessel were overcome by adverse weather conditions and called the Irish Coast Guard for assistance.
The volunteer crew – wearing protective masks and gloves in addition to the standard RNLI Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) – assessed the boat’s occupants to ensure they were unharmed before taking the vessel under tow and returning it to the safety of Kinsale marina.
'The RNLI remains on call throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. When we go on a call out, we don’t know the level of assistance required, or the proximity we will have to the people we are going to help. Safety is always paramount in our minds and wearing the full PPE and following strict RNLI guidelines minimises the risk of exposure for both our volunteer crew and those we rescue,' said Kinsale RNLI lifeboat helm Jonathan Connor .
'The people onboard this boat did exactly the right thing by calling for assistance. If any member of the public gets into difficulty on the water or spots someone else in difficulty, they should call 112 or 999 immediately and ask for the Coast Guard.’
Shortly after arriving back at Kinsale RNLI station, the crew was requested to launch for a second time to assist a 30ft vessel that had lost steerage at the mouth of the harbour, but the lifeboat was stood down en-route when the crew onboard managed to right the craft and make their own way to safety.
