High temperatures keep Gafirs crew busys

Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service were called seven times, including to two yachts that had run aground.

Gafirs senior coxswain Brian Pack said: ‘As the weather hots up, so often does the work of lifeboats in the Solent.

‘So far this year we’ve tackled 52 incidents and it’s looking like it could be another very busy year for your independent lifeboat station.’

On Friday evening the crew, based at Stokes Bay, were called at 9.30pm to assist a vessel aground on Bramble Bank, in the Solent.

The 30-foot yacht had two people on board and was towed off the bank.

The crew were called again at 6am on Saturday to a second yacht aground in Portsmouth Harbour. It had six people onboard and Gafirs used their lifeboat to pull the boat free.

Hours later, at 11am, Gafirs were asked to investigate an unmanned vessel near Lee-on-the-Solent. Crews found the 8ft tender was waterlogged. The owner was identified and the craft returned.

Later that afternoon Gafirs helped a person get back on their yacht near the Isle of Wight after they had been in the water for 20 minutes and became exhausted. A paramedic crewman assessed the casualty and he was passed on to an ambulance crew.

Yesterday morning at 9.48am, the lifeboat was tasked to investigate a personal locator beacon that had been activated in Camber Dock. It turned out to be a false alarm.