Sailors rescued after yacht snared off Dalkey Island

A yacht fouled in a lobster pot line off Dalkey Island prompted a callout for the Dún Laoghaire lifeboat on Saturday afternoon.

Three sailors were on board the 32 foot vessel when its propeller became entangled about two miles northeast of the island. After struggling to free it themselves, the skipper raised the alarm and the Irish Coast Guard requested lifeboat assistance at 1.07pm.

The lifeboat reached the scene within 25 minutes. With the yacht drifting close to the edge of Dublin Port’s busy vessel separation scheme, two lifeboat crew were transferred aboard to cut away the line. The operation took over an hour in moderate to fresh conditions with a force 4 wind against tide.

Once freed, the yacht was able to continue under sail to its home harbour in Howth. The lifeboat returned to station shortly before 4pm.

The RNLI said the skipper had acted promptly in calling for help and urged anyone in difficulty on the water to contact the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16.