A family of four was rescued from the water in Lough Derg by the RNLI yesterday after they were left drifting on a huge motor boat after the engine overheated and cut out in heavy weather.
On Thursday afternoon, Valentia Coast Guard requested Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat to launch to assist the four people who were stuck on the 43ft cruiser with engine failure.
Luckily, all four people were found safe and unharmed on board wearing their lifejackets and were successfully brought back to shore.
The Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat Jean Spier was launched at 5.02pm with conditions on lake being rough, with westerly winds Force 4 gusting 5 and good visibility.
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At 5.15pm the lifeboat arrived on scene having located the vessel midway between Garrykennedy and Ryan’s Point at Youghal Bay.
An RNLI volunteer transferred across to the casualty vessel and reported back to the helm that the engines were overheating. Given the weather conditions and location, the helm decided to take the vessel under tow to the safety of Garrykennedy public harbour.
At 6.10pm the casualty vessel was safety tied alongside in Garrykennedy Harbour.
The lifeboat departed the scene and was back at Station at 6.26pm
Jeremy Freeman, Deputy Launching Authority at Lough Derg RNLI, advised boat users on, saying: "Ensure your engines are serviced and that you have a means of communication should you get into difficulty on the water".
The Irish Coast Guard and RNLI have already been tasked to over 1,100 incidents so far this year.
The Coast Guard co-ordinated the response to 1,500 incidents including inland, coastal and offshore, with volunteer units attending more than 1,100 incidents.
One was the rescue of a lone yachtsman from an overturned boat yacht 70 miles off the south-west coast.
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