Thanks to George for these latest updates from the Cowes RNLI station. Ed
Crippled Motor-Cruiser Receives Helping Hand
Cowes RNLI lifeboat’s state of preparedness because of the famous Round the Island Race today was put to good use at lunch-time on Saturday – but not to go to the aid of one of the hundreds of competitors.
The lifeboat was launched at 12.50 pm because a motor-cruiser, with a man and a woman aboard, was reported to have suffered engine trouble well east of Cowes.
The vessel, Sundancer, was discovered about a mile off Gilkicker Point and was taken in tow to near Portsea; from there the cruiser was able to use its own outboard motor to proceed on to the local marina
The lifeboat returned to station at 2.40pm.
Injured Swimmer Taken to Lifeboat Station
The First Aid expertise of Cowes RNLI station became useful on Saturday afternoon, when a 17 year old girl was brought into the premises bleeding from a nasty injury.
The girl had badly gashed a foot when she hit an underwater obstruction while diving into the River Medina from the Whitegates pontoon. Together with her friends she was taken by a Cowes harbour launch to the lifeboat station to receive initial treatment.
It was then arranged by St Mary’s Hospital for a taxi to take her on to their Accident and Emergency.
Drifting Dinghy Alert Leads to Lifeboat Launch
Cowes lifeboat station rounded off its activities on the day of the Round the Island Race with yet another shout completely unconnected with the event.
Following on from assisting a broken down motor-cruiser and then administering First Aid to a girl swimmer the station returned to call-out mode once again late in the evening. This time the station was asked by Coastguards to investigate a drifting sailing dinghy west of the mouth of Beaulieu River, which just might have someone on board.
When the lifeboat tracked down the dinghy the crew found that it was in fact empty; although floating free it had a buoy attached leading to the conclusion that it appeared to have broken from its sea or river bed mooring somewhere. The lifeboat towed the craft to a pontoon in the river.
The lifeboat, which had launched at 10.14pm, returned to station at 11.20pm.
