LADY OF AVENEL

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Sail training ship towed to Hartlepool

Two RNLI lifeboats were called out to help bring the "Lady of Avenel" safely back to port on April 22, 2019. The Hartlepool all weather lifeboat 'Betty Huntbatch' was scrambled at 10.45 a.m. to assist the Whitby RNLI all weather lifeboat ‘George and Mary Webb’ berth the sail training vessel that had suffered mechanical failure earlier in the day off Whitby. The all weather lifeboat launched at 11.05 a.m. and was alongside the casualty at 11.15 a.m. Due to the weather conditions at the entrance to the harbour it was decided that the safest course of action was to tow the vessel to Hartlepool. The passage took around three hours. The vessel with 15 people on board was towed to the town's deep water berth in Hartlepool docks. First aid was administered by the Hartlepool lifeboat crew to two members of the sail training vessel for minor injuries where they were then transferred by the all weather lifeboat to the Ferry Road lifeboat station where awaiting paramedics further assessed their injuries before they were sent to hospital by ambulance. The Whitby RNLI lifeboat returned to its home port and Hartlepool RNLI lifeboat was refuelled and made ready for service by 1.20 p.m. Reports with photos: https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/17591981.training-sail-ship-towed-back-to-port-in-hartlepool-after-mechanical-problem/ https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2019/april/23/whitby-rnli-tow-sailing-vessel-to-safety

Lifeboat assisted tall ship in gale force winds

The Eastbourne lifeboat crew was called out in gale force winds at midnight on Oct 4, 2017, to help the "Lady of Avenel" which was in trouble off Sovereign Harbour. The ship which had set sail from Poole in Dorset, had dropped anchor off Langney Point to deal with an engine failure when the anchor began dragging, putting the ship in danger of hitting rocks. The wind forecast was set to increase to gale force, so the skipper requested support from the Coastguard and Eastbourne’s all-weather lifeboat "Diamond Jubilee" was sent out. Coxswain Mark Sawyer manoeuvred the lifeboat to take the strain off the anchor chains. The combined length of the ship and the lifeboat was bigger than the harbour locks, so the team decided to temporarily moor the ship at the permanent buoys outside the harbour. After more than two hours of tense and strenuous work, the brigantine square rigger was eventually made safe on the lifeboat moorings. Report with photo: http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/news/lifeboat-crew-rescues-historic-ship-in-sovereign-harbour-1-8183583