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Gale force winds broke a yacht free and pushed it into a busy Shannon estuary shipping lane
The yacht was retrieved by a RNLI lifeboat crew.
A YACHT MOORED on the Shannon estuary came free from its mooring in gale force winds this morning and drifted into a busy shipping lane.
The yacht was moored at Tarbert, Co. Kerry but came loose in the rough weather and began drifting westward in the middle of the bust estuary.
The Kilrush RNLI lifeboat launched at 9.33 am at the request of Valentia Coast Guard and located the yacht near Killimer jetty about 20 minutes later.
Killimer is on the Clare side of the estuary and is about a kilometre downstream of Tarbet.
The Coast Guard’s Rescue 115 helicopter was involved in the operation.
The Kilrush lifeboat volunteer crew says it quickly established a tow on the yacht and took the decision to tow the vessel back across the estuary to Tarbert.
The yacht was then secured again at its mooring before the lifeboat crew returned to Kilrush at 11.50 am.
“Weather conditions were challenging but our volunteer crews were well prepared. Also, I would like to thank Shannon Ferry for their assistance this morning in locating the vessel,” Kilrush RNLI’s Charlie Glynn said after the operation.
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