A lone sailor was rescued this afternoon after their 25-foot sailing boat ran aground and began taking on water off the North Clare coast.
The vessel got into difficulty near Aughinish, located on the south shore of Galway Bay off New Quay.
Members of the Galway RNLI lifeboat had been at the their station in Galway Docks preparing for a planned exercise when they were alerted by the Irish Coast Guard.
The volunteer crew had just launched the lifeboat so were able to respond without delay to the scene about 15 minutes away.
On arrival at the casualty vessel, a lifeboat crew member transferred on board to check on the welfare of the sailor and the condition of the boat. The sailor was well, wearing a lifejacket and had dropped anchor.
However, as the sailing boat was taking on water the crew decided to take the sailor on board the lifeboat as a safety measure.
The lifeboat crew then brought the sailor to a nearby harbour to get ashore safely.
The operation was coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Gaurd’s marine rescue coordination centre on Valentia Island in Kerry.
