The Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard was requested to launch and assist four people and their two dogs after their cruiser ran aground on Lough Derg.
At 3:45pm the volunteer team was paged by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry.
Responders were advised that a 42-foot cruiser had run aground on the Clare shore in the Tinarana Bay area.
At 4:10pm the boat crew arrived on scene where they found conditions at the time to be challenging. After an assessment of the area it was decided the rib would be unable to safely reach the casualty vessel. The unit’s flat-bottomed D-class rescue boat was requested to launch and a second boat crew was dispatched from the slipway at Two Mile Gate and made their way to the scene.
The D-class crew were able to reach the casualty vessel and a crew member was transferred on board. A tow line was set up from the vessel and the D-class crew were able to transfer the line to the rib crew who were standing by in deeper water.
After a number of attempts were made to tow the vessel but were unsuccessful it was decided to remove all persons from the cruiser and transfer them to Two Mile Gate where a shore team were standing by.
At 6:45pm all four persons and two dogs were safely ashore at Two Mile Gate. Arrangements were made with a local contractor to try tow the vessel to safety.
The rib crew were stood down and returned to base but the D-class crew relaunched at 7:50pm to assist with recovery efforts. At 10:10pm the vessel was free from the sand back without damage and taken back to Killaloe where it was safely moored.
Earlier in the day, while the Killaloe Coast Guard rib was on a training exercise, it was requested to assist a cruiser with engine difficulty on Lough Derg North of Killaloe.
The vessel was taken on tow back to Killaloe where it was safely moored.