[T]he volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow station launched their inshore lifeboat this morning, Thursday 28th June 2018, to go to the aid of a boat which had broken down in Walney Channel.
The call for assistance came from HM Coastguard at Holyhead at 1am.
The information received was that a 31 foot (9.5 metre) motor boat, with one person on board, had lost all power at a position north of Jubilee Bridge in Walney Channel.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, ‘Vision of Tamworth’ was launched at 1:20am with Dave Kell at the helm, assisted by two crew, Paul Wilcock and Richard Rawlinson.
A further 10 crew members responded to the call-out.
The lifeboat proceeded north along Walney Channel and it was established that the casualty vessel was located just east of Walney Airfield.
The lifeboat reached the casualty at 1:40am whereupon it was taken under tow.
With the tide on the ebb, it was important for the casualty to be moved quickly whilst there was still sufficient water depth available to do so. The stricken boat was towed back to its mooring close to the Ferry Pitching and the one crew member of the vessel, who was uninjured, was returned safely to the shore.
With the casualty vessel and crew safe, the ‘Vision of Tamworth’ returned to the lifeboat station at 2-42am where it was made ready for the next launch.
The wind at the time of the incident was easterly, Force 1-2, and the high tide had passed at 12:08am with a height of 8.7 metres.