St Mary’s RNLI called from beach party to drifting Scilly yacht

Fourteen pagers going off at once is loud at the best of times. On the evening of 15 August, in the middle of a station social evening on the beach at Old Town, it cut straight through the chatter and sent the crew of St Mary’s RNLI Lifeboat Station running for their boots.

A din on the beach

The pagers sounded at 1910. The crew had been enjoying a social evening together on the beach at Old Town, and by the station’s own description, fourteen pagers going off together made “quite a din”. Whatever was left of the evening was put on hold.

A yacht adrift in Porthcressa Bay

The call had come from a nearby yacht, whose crew reported to the Coastguard that another vessel close by was dragging its anchor with nobody aboard, in Porthcressa Bay. Left unchecked, there was a real risk it could drag further and damage other boats moored nearby.

Stood down with thanks

The RNLI lifeboat launched and headed for the bay. By the time it arrived on scene, the owners of the drifting yacht had made their way back to the boat and secured it themselves, and the lifeboat was stood down with thanks.

Once ashore, the crew went straight back to their evening on the beach.

Shout 20 for 2026

The callout was the twentieth shout of the year for St Mary’s. The crew that turned out were Jimmy Hoddinott, Dan Moulson, Chris Jenkins, Richard Mills, Andrew Hicks, Eldred Banfield and Archie Hicks.

📷Credit: St Mary's RNLI Lifeboat Station