Crosshaven RNLI lifeboat finishes 2010 with double callouts

Crosshaven RNLI Lifeboat has finished 2010 with two services on the last day of the first decade,making 2010 the busiest year of its 10 year existence.

The Volunteer crew members were awoken by pagers just after 4am, and requested to launch to the aid of a woman on rocks near Myrtleville. A combined rescue operation by the RNLI, Fire Service, Crosshaven Coastguard and the HSE brought the women to safety and onwards to hospital, where she is recovering. The volunteer crews headed back to their beds at 6.30 in the morning.

The afternoon peace was shattered by the shrill sound of pagers, again calling the crew. Valentia Marine rescue Centre informed the station of a 38 foot commercial fishing vessel which had become entangled in its own nets. The volunteer crew of Con Crowley, Gary Heslin and Vincent Fleming made their way through a moderate to rough sea to the vessel which was
near Power Head. As the vessels nets were also attached to the seabed, the nets had to be cut away before the Lifeboat could establish a tow back to Crosshaven, arriving some two hours later.

Lifeboat responds to sinking fishing boat

A major rescue operation swung into operation on Saturday Morning ( 13 Nov) outside Cork Harbour when a 27’ fishing boat sank in minutes with two people on board.

At 11.19am , Valentia Coast Guard alerted Crosshaven RNLI Lifeboat that the fishing Vessel was in serious trouble off the Church Bay area and requested an immediate launch. Crosshaven lifeboat launched within 5 minutes and with its volunteer crew of Kieran Coniry, Dan O’Donoghue and Vincent Fleming, made good progress through a two metre sea swell arriving on scene to find the fishing boat had at this stage sank and the crew safely in the Liferaft.

The Ballycotton RNLI all weather Lifeboat was at sea on exercise at the time and immediately altered course to the incident. Crosshaven Coast Guard were also tasked and en route. When it became clear that the two crewmen were safely aboard the Crosshaven Lifeboat, the other emergency services were stood down. Crosshaven Lifeboat then brought the two fisherman back to Crosshaven.

Whilst it is unknown what caused the fishing boat to flounder, the crew had little time to deploy their liferaft and make an emergency call before the boat sank.

Crosshaven busiest inshore lifeboat in Ireland this summer

Preliminary figures for summer 2010, issued today (22 September) by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), show the charity’s Irish lifeboats launched on average five times every day during June, July and August.

RNLI lifeboats were requested to launch 450 times during June, July and August. The busiest station in Ireland with an Inshore Lifeboat was Crosshaven with 19 launches. The busiest “All weather Lifeboat” was the Aran Islands lifeboat with 22 launches.

The figures come on the back of a significant investment by the charity in the Irish lifeboat fleet. New inshore lifeboats have been put on service in Dun Laoghaire, Kilrush in Clare and Fenit in Kerry. These new lifeboats are fast, efficient and technically equipped to reach casualties faster and to provide increased cover around the coast.

Commenting on the RNLI summer lifeboat launches, RNLI Training Divisional Inspector, Owen Medland, said, ‘It has been a busy Summer for Irish lifeboat crews. Over the course of those three months there have been a number of dramatic and challenging callouts for our volunteers. This summer RNLI Sea Safety volunteers have run a number of lifejacket clinics and flare demonstrations around the coast and at inland waterways to advise all water users on how to stay safe on the water.’

RNLI Operations Director, Michael Vlasto, added: ‘The summer is always busy as more and more people opt to relax at the coast. The figures show that our volunteers are called on much more during this time and the fact they respond every time the pager goes off shows just how committed they are to saving lives at sea.Many of our lifeboat volunteers are also particularly busy at this time with their day jobs as many of them work in the tourism industry, so we are especially grateful to them in summer – and to their employers who allow them to stop work at the “bleep of a pager” to help others, and given the current economic climate for businesses this is a great contribution to the charity.’

The RNLI offers free all-year-round safety advice for sea users and beach visitors at www.rnli.ie

Crosshaven RNLI assists yacht on fire

This afternoon (Saturday 28 Aug) , Crosshaven RNLI Lifeboat went to the aid of a 27’ Yacht with a fire in the engine compartment that was being towed into Crosshaven by a passing Rib. On scene, Volunteer crew member Warren Forbes (a F/T Fireman) went aboard and checked the hatch. He decided that the amount of smoke in the cabin area was too dangerous to enter without BA Equipment. He transferred 3 of the yachts crew to the lifeboat and remained on board with the skipper.

Crosshaven Lifeboat took over the tow to Crosshaven Pier, where they had requested the Fire Brigade to meet them. On arrival at the pier, the Fire Brigade entered the yachts cabin wearing breathing apparatus and extinguished the fire which was thought to be in the soundproofing material around the engine. The yacht has suffered extensive smoke damage internally. The volunteer helm on this service was Ian Venner with Vincent Fleming. The Crosshaven Coast Guard Patrol RIB also attended the incident.

Crosshaven Lifeboat in 3 hour long distance service

Crosshaven RNLI Inshore Lifeboat undertook one of their longest distance services when they were tasked at 17.02 to a 10m Rib on passage from Falmouth to Baltimore, 12 miles south of Roches Point, when one of the crew suffered a suspected spinal injury. The Lifeboat transferred crewman Kevin Higgins onto the casualty vessel who assessed the injured crewman in radio consultation with the lifeboat Station Doctor. The lifeboat and RIB then proceeded to Crosshaven at a slow 5 knots arriving some 2 hours later. The casualty was then transferred to Cork University Hospital by ambulance. The helm on this Service was Ian Venner with Ritchie Kelleher.

Service to 18' yacht 10 June 2010

This evening the volunteer Crosshaven RNLI Lifeboat went to the aid of an eighteen foot yacht on passage from the Kinsale area to Crosshaven. The yacht with two persons on board suffered mechanical failure and was having trouble making way into a headwind.

Initially, the yacht was assisted by the motor Cruiser “Callie” who took them on initial tow and informed the Coastguard in Valentia who made the decision to Launch the Crosshaven lifeboat at 7pm. The Volunteer crew made up of Helm Con Crowley with Vincent Fleming and Ritchie Kelleher made their way to the rendezvous between the Cork Bouy and Rennies Point and relieved the motor cruiser of the tow. Crewman Ritchie Kelleher boarded the yacht and helped rig the tow for the 40 minute journey back to Crosshaven where the yacht was secured.

Helm Con Crowley guides the disabled yacht back to Crosshaven whilst Crewman Ritchie Kelleher assists on the yacht.

Crosshaven Lifeboat Rescues owner and dog from mud bank

A women out walking her dog had a lucky escape this afternoon when she became trapped in mud near Hop Island in Cork harbour on a rising tide.
The women went after her dog which ran onto the mud banks and became
trapped. With the tide rising rapidly, The Crosshaven volunteer RNLI Lifeboat was launched
at 15.09 and crewed by volunteers Vincent Fleming, Bernard Lynch and Dennis Cronin.
The Coastguard Helicopter was also scrambled as were Crosshaven Coastguard and the Fire Service.
When the Lifeboat arrived, crewman Bernard Lynch entered the water to reassure the women who was by now
Waist deep in water and managed to extricate her and take her and her dog onto the Lifeboat. The lifeboat crew
landed the lady to the care of Ambulance personnel.

Four callouts in a week for Crosshaven RNLI

At 2245 this evening, Crosshaven Volunteer RNLI Lifeboat was launched to rescue a 26’ motor boat with two people on board which had suffered mechanical problems in Lough Mahon near Blackrock Castle . On arrival it was seen that the motor boat had grounded on the falling tide. With no possibilty of recovering the vessel, the Lifeboat took off the crew and landed them ashore. An attempt to refloat the vessel will be made around 10am tomorrow (Friday) at high tide. On this service the lifeboat was helmed by Gary Heslin with fellow volunteers Vincent Fleming and new crewman on his first emergency call, Jonathan Grey.

This service brings the total call outs to four this week. On Sunday last, two callouts were to vessels with mechanical problems and on Wednesday evening the lifeboat attended a motor boat which broke free from its moorings and went aground. A spokesman for Crosshaven RNLI Lifeboat
Station “urged all leisure users in the harbour area to make sure their vessels are mechanically fit for sea and they are carrying enough fuel to get them back to shore”

Lifeboat saves 9 lives

Whilst on exercise on Sunday 6th December, Crosshaven volunteer RNLI Lifeboat happened upon 9 (nine) people floundering in the water at Lough Mahon in the upper Cork harbour area. The nine people in the water were the cox’n and 8 rowers from the UCC Rowing club. Conditions in Lough Mahon were described as rough with a westerly Force 7 wind blowing which swamped the Rowing boat causing it to partially sink and throw the crewinto the water. The UCC boat had a small safety boat with them, which was struggling to help the rowers. The Lifeboat plucked all
the rowers to safety and administered first Aid for Hypothermia and Shock, before taking them to the Shandon boat club for hot showers and drinks. After making sure everybody was in no further need of medical assistance,the Lifeboat returned to station in Crosshaven. It is believed the rowers were in the cold water for 20 minutes before the arrival of the RNLI Lifeboat. This incident shows the need for everybody using the sea to carry a VHF radio and flares
for use in cases of emergency. If the Lifeboat had not been out on exercise in that particular area and not happened upon the incident, the outcome may have had more serious consequences. This brings the number of services for Crosshaven Volunteer RNLI Lifeboat to 45 this Year.

RNLI honour reluctant hero

On the 8th March last, one of the largest Rescue operations in the Cork harbour area swung into action when a car drove off the cross river ferry between Passage West and Cobh.
Two occupants of the vehicle were seen in the river immediately afterwards and Mr John Geary who lives near the ferry, heard the commotion and saw Lifebouys being thrown into the water from the ferry.
In the failing light, Mr Geary immediately launched his small rowing boat and paddled to the scene where he managed to locate one of the casualties. The small boat was in danger of being swamped when the survivor tried to climb in, but, Mr Geary managed to get the survivor to hold onto the stern of the boat and rowed him to the shore, where with another member of the public, they took him out of the water and handed him to medical personnel. Sadly, the second occupant of the vehicle was never found.

Crosshaven volunteer RNLI Lifeboat attended the scene along with the other rescue services and felt that Mr Gearys selfless actions in saving life were beyond normal expectations and reported Mr Geary’s rescue to the RNLI Headquarters in Poole. It was agreed that Mr Gearys actions warranted that he be honoured, and he has been awarded a framed “letter of Thanks” from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and signed by Mr Andrew Freemantle , the Chief Executive.

The citation reads in part “ I want to commend you on behalf of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for your public spirited and most commendable actions which resulted in the saving of the mans life. Well done. Indeed.”