TWO RESCUES TOOK place in Sligo over the past three days, with RNLI lifeboats coming to the aid of a woman out walking and the occupants of Norwegian yacht.
Bundoran RNLI lifeboat and Sligo Bay RNLI were both involved in separate rescues on the Sligo coast.
Bundoran
Bundoran RNLI Lifeboat was sent by Malin Head Coast Guard to a woman who became trapped on rocks whilst walking near Mullaghmore in County Sligo.
The holiday maker was walking along the coastline when she realised that the tide was coming back in and the amount of seaweed along the route made it impossible to turn back, the RNLI said today.
Luckily, the woman had her mobile phone with her and was able to call the coast guard using the 112 emergency number.
The voluntary Bundoran Lifeboat crew launched within six minutes of getting paged at 2.54pm.
They were on the scene 12 minutes later and assisted the woman on to the lifeboat William Henry Liddington.
She was uninjured but was checked out by one of the EMT-trained crew and then taken back to the lifeboat station. The Rescue 118 helicopter was also tasked but stood down in an operation coordinated by Malin Head Coast Guard.
Daimon Fergus was at the helm of the lifeboat, and said:
While we knew there was no immediate danger there was an urgency to get the person off the rocks and to safety before the tide came in much further and blocked her path completely. We would always advise members of the public who are on the water or walking on the coastline to at the very least carry a mobile phone so the alert may be raised in the event of an emergency.
Sligo Bay
Meanwhile, Sligo Bay RNLI rescued two people from a 31ft Norwegian flagged yacht at the weekend.
The charity’s volunteer lifeboat crew was sent to the scene by Malin Head Coast Guard at 3.36pm on Saturday 18 August following a report that the vessel had got into difficulty.
Crew on board the inshore lifeboat Elsinore went to the scene eight miles off Ballyconnell in County Sligo. At the time, weather conditions were good, with strong tides.
There were a man and a woman onboard the yacht, who had been on a journey from the Labrador Coast in Canada. They had set out from their home in Oslo and travelled to the Caribbean and the east coast of America.
It was while they were returning across the Atlantic when they got into difficulty, when both of the yacht’s main sails were shredded in a gale and it subsequently suffered engine failure.
The lifeboat crew were able to tow the vessel into Sligo Harbour, arriving after a three-hour journey.
When the yacht was safely secured, the couple were brought into the Sligo Bay station where they were made comfortable.
Sligo Bay RNLI Lifeboat operations manager Willie Murphy said:
The couple were tired after being at sea for 21 days but were in good spirits. They were extremely grateful to the crew for their service and to all at the station for their assistance after.
This is the second time this summer that Sligo RNLI has had connections with Norwegian sailors.
In June, a 30-strong Norwegian shanty choir sang a song at Rosses Points RNLI Shanty Festival that they specially composed to commemorate the saving of a Norwegian crew off a shipwrecked sailing barque in the late 1800′s on Coney Island, Sligo Bay.
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