Exmouth lifeboat launched to a motor vessel taking on water.

Sunday, 7 July 2024 14:00

By Chris Collman

At 19.59 on Saturday, H.M. Coastguard requested the launch of the Exmouth RNLI lifeboat following a 999 call from the crew of a motorboat experiencing an uncontrolled ingress of water from a split water pipe.

The Exmouth RNLI ILB George Bearman II and three volunteer crew launched at 20.08 and set off at best speed to provide assistance.

Our volunteers arrived at the vessel near Lympstone on the River Exe 10 minutes after launching and placed a crew member on board to help assess the situation. By this time the skipper of the yacht had been able to stop the intake of water and the vessels bilge pumps were making effective progress against the flooding. Our crew waited until the skipper was happy that the situation was fully under control and we were then stood down by H.M Coastguard and returned to the lifeboat station.

The skipper of the vessel did exactly the right thing in quickly calling for help and his preparation for dealing with the unexpected meant that he had the tools, knowledge and experience to quickly manage the issue.

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