SID the parrot was amongst those rescued during a busy weekend at sea for the volunteers of Donaghadee RNLI, who launched twice in the space of 48 hours.
The first call came through on Saturday at 6.35pm when HM Coastguard asked the crew to help a 36ft yacht in difficulty near the Briggs Buoy at Orlock Point.
Whilst en route to this yacht they were re-tasked by the coastguard due to a priority Pan Pan request from another yacht due east of Donaghadee.
Bangor lifeboat was asked to attend the initial call while Donaghadee lifeboat went to the rescue of a 26 foot yacht headed towards the Isle of Man with one person and one parrot on board.
It was reported that the yacht had lost the main engine and was struggling, but in good sea conditions the all-weather lifeboat was on the scene within 10 minutes.
Due to the evening drawing in, the freshening sea state and the condition of the skipper and vessel it was decided by the coxswain Philip McNamara, that the best course of action was to secure a tow line to the vessel and return it to the safety of Bangor harbour.
Once closer to the harbour crew member Chris Stewart boarded the yacht and assisted the skipper in securing an alongside tow and when securely in the harbour he was passed into the care of the Bangor Coastguard Team.
The next call out came in the early morning hours of Monday, around 3.50am.
This time the crew was asked to launch to a 38ft yacht with two people onboard, 10 miles north of Mew Island.
With good visibility, a moderate sea and light winds, the lifeboat was on scene within about 35 minutes to find that the yacht had lost power en route to Bangor. The skipper and crew member were alert and well, though tired.
The decision was taken by the coxswain again to secure a towline and assist the vessel into the safety of Bangor harbour and the Coastguard Rescue Team.
Following the call outs, Coxswain Philip McNamara said, “On both occasions the skippers of these yachts requested assistance as soon as they realised they were in difficulty and before the situation worsened, which was the correct thing to do.
“As always we recommend vessels check their engines and equipment prior to going to sea, and of course wear lifejackets at all times and have a working means of communicating with the coastguard in the event of getting into difficulty.”
