A SIX-HOUR rescue mission recenty was the first call out for Courtmacsherry crewman Ian McCarthy, seven days before his wedding.
Ian is getting married on Friday to Freya Kearney, daughter of the legendary Skibbereen rugby player Finbarr Kearney.
Ian took part in the RNLI callout which rescued two crew on board a 40ft yacht that was in danger of sinking.
The six-hour, early morning rescue followed a major search to locate the vessel 21 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale.
Crew on the callout withsStation officers Philip White and Brian O Dwyer. Left to right. Niamh Hurley, Stuart Russell, Taylor Murphy, Ken Cashman, Ian McCarthy and Donal Young. Photo: Vincent O'Donovan.
Courtmacsherry RNLI were tasked at 3.40am on Friday August 1st after an Epirb – an emergency position indication radio beacon – went off.
‘As my first callout it was eventful,’ Ian told The Southern Star. ‘It was a good callout to go on, and good experience.’ Ian noted it was the crews’ second longest callout in a while.
Ian, of course, is no stranger to Courtmacsherry RNLI: his father Cally served for a long number of years and was one of those involved in the famous Fastnet Race rescue in 1979, which, coincidentally was 46 years ago this week.
Ian (37) said his six-hour callout wasn’t a patch on the 48-hour Fastnet rescue, which took place in in seas that hammered them with 30 ft swells. ‘I remember my father telling me he was only able to drink soup for five days after the event because he couldn’t stomach anything else.’
Last Friday’s dramatic rescue saw the crew mobilised within 13 minutes and they reached the location at around 5am. They found a vessel en route from Ireland to France that was without power, being buffeted by the sea and taking on water to the extent that it was in danger of sinking.
At the conclusion of the lengthy six-hour rescue mission, Vincent O’Donovan, Courtmacsherry’s press officer, explained that a lot of the time, when Epirbs go off, it is accidental or a false alarm.
But in this instance, there was a real urgency to the rescue because the crew and the vessel were in danger.
The crew, including coxswain Ken Cashman and mechanic Stuart Russell, as well as Donal Young, Niamh Hurley, Ian McCarthy and Taylor Murphy, took the vessel in tow while making sure that water was being pumped out to prevent it from sinking.
A nearby 85ft fishing boat also arrived on scene and assisted by providing radio contact. With the yacht in tow and water intake being monitored, the RNLI towed the casualty back to Courtmacsherry.
Both boats arrived to the safety of the Courtmacsherry Pier at 9.30am and Vincent said:
‘The yacht crew were mightily pleased to be on safe terrain after a very eventful morning.’
Ian is from Courtmacsherry but he was living away in Dubai and London for 12 years, before moving home four years ago. Now, he is looking forward to marrying his fiancée Freya Kearney on Friday.
The couple will have their reception at Ballyseede Castle Hotel with Freya’s parents, Finbarr and Gillian, and his parents Cally and Denise at the top table.
They met shortly after Ian returned home from Dubai, where he was working as an automation engineer.
Freya, meanwhile, works as an associate director at Eli Lilly. Looking to the future, Ian said they have got planning for a home in his native Courtmacsherry.
‘Now,’ he said, ‘we’re just looking for a builder.’
Last week the station’s voluntary operations manager Brian O’Dwyer, on behalf of Courtmacsherry RNLI Lifeboat Station members past and present, accepted the Courtmacsherry Festival’s recognition award for services to the community during this, the station’s 200th anniversary.
