The Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard has responded to three calls in the past 24 hours.
At 3:10pm today, the unit was tasked to assist a 40-foot cruiser with five persons on board reported in difficulty 1km north of Killaloe.
The volunteer crew launched their boat from the Coast Guard base at Pier Head Killaloe and made their way to the scene. Once the casualty vessel was located a Coast Guard crew member was transferred on board.
A tow line was set up and the vessel was towed back to Killaloe where it was safely moored with the assistance of a Coast Guard shore team.
At 6:10pm, the team’s pagers were activated for a second time and the unit were tasked to launch and assist a 14-foot power boat with engine difficulty north of Killaloe in the area of Ballyvally.
The vessel, with three persons on board, was quickly located and found drifting into shallow water. All three persons on board were safe and well and wearing life jackets.
The three were taken on board the Coast Guard boat while the casualty vessel was taken on tow back to Ballina slipway where it was recovered from the water with the assistance of a Coast Guard shore team.
Meanwhile, on Friday evening, the Killaloe Coast Guard unit were requested to assist the National Ambulance Service with a patient who had fallen from a horse in a remote area north of Whitegate in East Clare.
Coast Guard crews responded with 4x4s and the unit’s All-terrain vehicle (ATV).
Once on scene, Coast Guard members worked alongside Paramedics to safely secure and transport the patient to the waiting Ambulance. The patient was transferred to University Hospital Limerick for assessment and treatment.