Two men were rescued from their sinking boat in an incident in the bay last Thursday.
Galway RNLI Lifeboat rescued the men after the emergency services were alerted on December 22.
The local half-decker broke down off Salthill at about 2pm and started taking on water fast. One of the two men on board raised the alarm and the Irish Coastguard immediately tasked Galway Lifeboat to the scene.
Two other fishing boats in the area at the time came to the men’s immediate assistance, taking them on board and their sinking boat under tow.
Galway Lifeboat arrived within minutes and after checking there were no casualties one of the lifeboat crew boarded the sinking boat, brought an emergency pump on board, and commenced pumping to keep the boat afloat.
The tow rope between the distressed boat and the fishing boat had parted after some distance. Galway Lifeboat then took over the tow and brought the boat back to Galway Docks.
Weather conditions at the time were southwesterly force 5 to 6, making the rescue operation difficult.
Lifeboat operations manager Mike Swan says the owner of the boat was lucky. “Although conditions were quite rough, other boats in the vicinity came to the immediate assistance of the vessel in distress until we got there,” he said. “It was a good result in the end.”
The volunteer lifeboat crew on this callout were helmsman John Byrne, Declan Killilea, Paul Hoban, and David Badger.
