The volunteer lifeboat crew at Portaferry RNLI responded to two calls for help over the weekend, one for a reported fire on a motorboat and the second to a casualty on board a yacht with a head injury.
On Saturday 19 August, the pagers sounded at 12.36pm and a volunteer RNLI crew from Portaferry were on the water at 12/42pm, a quick response.
They were responding to a call for assistance from a 30-foot motorboat with four people with two men and two women on board which had reported an engine fire while they were close to Ballydorn, White Rocks, in Strangford Lough County Down.
At the time, the weather was sunny with good visibility with a northerly Force 4 wind and calm sea conditions.
The volunteer RNLI crew were on scene with the casualty vessel by 12.57pm, by which time the situation had been brought under control by the four people on the boat and a safety boat which had been nearby.
The RNLI crew remained with the casualty vessel long enough to ensure there was no further danger before departing and returning to the lifeboat station in Portaferry.
The following day, Sunday 20 August, the pagers sounded again for the second time over the weekend at 3.40pm and the RNLI volunteers launched at 3.47pm.
On this occasion they were responding to a call for help from three men on board a 28-foot yacht, one of whom had sustained a head injury while sailing.
The weather was cloudy with good visibility with a Force 3 southerly wind and calm sea conditions.
The RNLI crew arrived on scene with the casualty vessel at 3.58pm, roughly half a mile south of Long Shelia Island in Strangford Lough County Down.
The casualty and one other member of the yachts crew were taken on board the RNLI Lifeboat where one of the volunteer Lifeboat crew continued to administer first aid.
The casualty was then taken by the Lifeboat crew to nearby Ringhaddy Pontoons, arriving at 4.13pm where the volunteer crew remained with him before handing him over into the care of the NI Ambulance Service.
The RNLI crew then departed the scene at 4.43pm, returning to their station ready for further service.
