Padstow RNLI’s night tow after a yacht fouled off Bude

The light was going, and the shipping was not. Eight miles west of Bude on Thursday evening, a yacht sat with a fouled propeller and no easy way to move itself clear of a busy shipping lane. Getting it back would mean a tow, in fading light.

An evening launch off Bude

Padstow RNLI‘s volunteer crew launched at 8.37pm on Thursday 6 August, called out to reports of a yacht with a fouled propeller. The lifeboat reached it at 9.25pm.

The Coxswain’s call

With the lifeboat on scene, the Coxswain assessed the situation. Three things pointed the same way. The propeller was fouled, the light was fading, and the yacht was sitting in a busy shipping lane. Weighing all three, the safest course of action was to take the yacht under tow.

A tow back to the Camel

The yacht was towed safely to its mooring in the Camel Estuary.

For Padstow’s volunteer lifeboat crew, the night did not end at the mooring. Back at the station the boat was refuelled and ready for service again by 2am.

📷Credit: Padstow Lifeboat