Lifeboat Rescues Stranded Motorboat Near Sandown Pier
The RNLB Alfred Albert Williams lifeboat sprang into action just after 8.30am today. At the UK Coastguard’s request, it teamed up with Sandown & Shanklin Inshore Rescue to save a 30-foot motorboat, the Chandos, which had lost power and was flooding near Sandown Pier.
Slow and Steady Tow Against Rough Seas
The rescue crew boarded the Chandos with a salvage pump and began towing it by 9.15am. But the 2m to 4m North Easterly swell made progress tough. Approaching Bembridge Ledge buoy, conditions worsened. The team decided it was too dangerous to enter Bembridge Harbour and steered for Haslar Marina in Portsmouth instead.
Safe Harbour at Haslar Marina
By midday, the Chandos was securely moored alongside a pontoon at Haslar. The Alfred Albert Williams lifeboat will wait here until about 2.30pm, holding off on heading to Bembridge until the slipway conditions improve.