The Isles of Scilly yacht that had nowhere left to anchor

Three people were aboard a yacht drifting steadily towards the Eastern Isles on Sunday evening, with no engine, no wind to sail by, and water too deep beneath them to drop anchor. There was only one way off the water, and it was already on its way.

The call

St Mary’s RNLI Lifeboat Station launched its 24th shout of the year yesterday, Sunday 20 September, after the Coastguard at Falmouth paged the crew at 5.15pm. The yacht, with three people on board, was around half a nautical mile south-east of Menawethan, one of the Eastern Isles off St Mary’s.

The boat had suffered engine failure, and with no wind in the sails there was no way to move under its own power. The water beneath it was too deep to anchor, so the yacht could do nothing but drift, edging closer to the islands with each passing minute.

Under tow to St Mary’s

Once on scene, the RNLI crew passed a tow line across to the stricken yacht and brought it back in, towing the vessel all the way to St Mary’s Harbour, where it was secured to a visitor’s mooring.

The track above, pulled from Marine Traffic’s AIS data, shows the full run: the long haul in from open water east of the islands, the turn south past the Eastern Isles, and the final approach into Hugh Town harbour.

Shout 24 for the year. There will be more before it’s out.

📷Marine Traffic AIS track of St Mary's RNLI lifeboat's shout to a yacht near Menawethan, 20 September 2026. Credit: Marine Traffic AIS