RNLI volunteers at Port Talbot went to the aid of a grounded yacht three times in just over a week

The crew of the RNLI Port Talbot lifeboat has been tasked three times to assist the owner of a yacht after the vessel ran aground on a beach.

The 20-foot yacht first got into difficulties on 27 August, when it became stuck on the western end of Aberavon beach.

By the time the Port Talbot RNLI volunteers arrived on the scene at just before 12pm, the tide had receded and the boat was stranded well above the tide line.

A beach in Port Talbot in Wales

Aberavon beach where the yacht ran aground. Credit: Chris Plunkett/Wikimedia Commons

A spokesman for the lifeboat station said a decision was then made to return later that day.

“It was arranged with the coastguard that the lifeboat would again be tasked in the evening to try and tow the vessel off the beach when the tide came in,” he said.

The lifeboat crew returned to the boat at just before 10pm.

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“Unfortunately despite efforts to tow it off, the water was just not high enough to do so,” explained the spokesman.

“The decision was then made that the boat would have to remain insitu until the next high tide on 4 September,” he added.

The lifeboat crew was again called out on 4 September after the boat’s owner struggled to refloat his boat, due to a damaged rudder.

When the lifeboat arrived, a tow was established and in quite choppy seas the boat was pulled into deeper water.

The lifeboat then proceeded to tow the boat to the River Neath and into the Monkstone marina.