The Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS) was called out on 18 April to assist the yacht which had hit the mud bank just outside the entrance of Fareham Lake, Portsmouth Harbour.

The 30ft vessel, which had two people on board, was listing at a 45 degree angle. They had been stuck since lunchtime when the UK Coastguard paged the voluntary independent lifeboat crew at around 6pm.

Gosport lifeboat located the stranded vessel and placed crew member Phil Butler on board the yacht to assess the situation.

GAFIRS coxswain Brian Pack said: “With the tide rising it was only a matter of time before the boat was afloat again, however the problem lay with the kedge anchor. Unfortunately, not only was the yacht aground but it had also fouled its anchor which made towing the stricken vessel free quite tricky. However, my crew worked hard and we soon had the vessel afloat again and on its way.”

The GAFIRS crew took the yacht into an alongside tow and helped it back to its mooring in Fareham Creek. The two people on board, who were cold after spending seven hours at sea, were returned to shore at Haslar Marina.

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