Tenby RNLI’s lifeboat crew swiftly aided a yacht adrift near Caldey Island on Monday, after the skipper fell ill.

The all-weather lifeboat was requested to launch at 1.40pm on Monday, June 15, after the coastguard received a call from the occupants of a yacht reporting that their skipper had become ill one mile south of Caldey island.

The volunteer crew were quickly on the water and made best speed to the reported position of the yacht, which was reported to have three persons and a dog onboard.

Once alongside the vessel, they discovered that the skipper was suffering badly from seasickness and that the other two crew members were unable to sail it themselves.

After a thorough assessment by the Coxswain, it was decided that with the nobody to sail the vessel, which was now drifting with the tide towards Caldey island and also a potential navigational hazard to other vessels, the safest course of action would be to tow it back to Tenby.

Two crew members were put aboard the casualty vessel to assist setting up the tow and to monitor the seasick sailor on the trip back.

After a tow of around an hour, the casualty vessel was placed on the lifeboat mooring in the calmer waters of North Bay, before the lifeboat returned to station, arriving at 3.15pm.