Most mariners will confirm that they have a ‘special’ relationship with dolphins (when at sea) – a relationship that is quite hard to explain to anyone who has not spent any considerable amount of time at sea.
During my 6 years of sailing the seven seas whilst serving in the Royal Navy, often would we encounter these majestic creatures as we sliced through the choppy waves.
You would often see them jumping in and over our huge bow wave and, for some reason, they would always bring me a sense of calm upon seeing them – a welcomed feeling when you have been away from your family and friend for 9 months at a time.
Although, I must confess to having never seen these amazing mammals during my stint in the RNLI – which is why I felt a sense of envy when I heard about the Eyemouth RNLI crew who were escorted back to their local harbour by a pod of dolphins.
The Eyemouth RNLI lifeboat was sent out by the coastguard to a request for assistance to aid a passenger vessel that had gotten into trouble at around 19:00hrs on Friday.
After the Eyemouth crew had taken the stricken vessel under tow, they were escorted back to harbour by several dolphins.
A post on the Eyemouth RNLI Facebook page said:
‘Eyemouth RNLI lifeboat was launched at 7:20pm on Friday 17 August 2018 after it was reported to the UK Coastguard that a passenger vessel was in need of assistance.
‘The lifeboat was on scene within minutes and quickly took the vessel under tow, following which, both boats were escorted back to harbour by a number of dolphins.
‘Once the vessel was safely alongside, Eyemouth lifeboat was stood down and returned to station, approximately 40 minutes after the initial call.’
The crew of the passenger vessel were safely escorted by the Dolphins back to a mooring, with the help of course of the RNLI.
Established in 1876, Eyemouth Lifeboat Lifeboat station is located in the busy historic fishing port of Eyemouth.
It current operates a Trent Class all-weather Lifeboat and a smaller D Class inshore lifeboat.
In 1991, a Silver Medal was awarded to Acting Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic James A Dougal in recognition of his courage, leadership and seamanship and The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum accorded to each of the crew John Buchan, David Collin, George Walker, Joseph Walker, Robert Walker and Alister Crombie.
This was in recognition for their service when the lifeboat rescued two skin-divers in difficulties north west of the Ebb Carr Rocks in hurricane force northerly winds and very heavy 30-35ft seas breaking over rocky outcrops, with visibility reduced drastically by rain, spume and spray on 6 October.
The Maud Smith Award for the bravest act of life-saving in 1990 was made to Assistant Mechanic James A Dougal for this service.
Featured picture credit: @EyemouthLifeboat | Facebook
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