Fishguard volunteer crew launch in darkness during Storm Betty

Following a report from a concerned witness of possible persons in the water the crew were paged at 9.46pm on 18 August to attend the area of Cwm Yr Eglwys.

The charity’s Trent class all weather lifeboat Blue Peter VII was launched into rough conditions and made way to the location.

On arrival crew spotted two persons near to the water’s edge who did not appear to be in distress. The weather conditions made communication difficult over the noise of wind and sea as the lifeboat maintained a safe distance from the rocks.

A crew member on the bow was able to establish contact by shouting to them and they confirmed that they were not in distress and were fishing at the location.

Having confirmed they did not require any assistance the lifeboat was stood down by HM Coastguard and made its way back to station where it was again made ready for service.

This was the second call out for Fishguard volunteers following being paged at 5.01pm on Thursday 17 August.

A report was received by HM Coastguard of a possible capsized yacht in the vicinity of Fishguard Fort.

The station’s Blue Peter VII was launched and made way. On arrival it was established that there were no yachts in difficulty, and any owners present were spoken to where it was established that it was a false alarm with good intent.

The lifeboat returned to station made ready for service.

Jessica Rogers, RNLI Fishguard Volunteer Lifeboat Crew, said:

“The conditions provided us with challenges in communicating with the two gentlemen fishing, but fortunately they did not require any assistance from us or coastguards.

If you see someone you believe is in difficulty and needs help please call 999 or 112 and ask for the coastguard.

We would rather be called out and not needed than not being called to someone in genuine distress.”