Safe Haven for 'Warnow'

I randomly took this photograph of a boat moored in Stonehaven harbour this afternoon.

Given its striking name, I wondered if there might be a blipstory in the shot that could be researched via the Internet ... and so it proved:

The Whitby RNLI crew were paged at 10.42am on Saturday 23 March 2013 to go to the aid of the 15 metre yacht called Warnow which was travelling from Holland to Scotland and was in difficulty outside Whitby Harbour mouth. The Whitby lifeboat George and Mary Webb reached the casualty at 11.00am to find it had no steering and also had engine trouble. The casualty vessel and the lifeboat were encountering confused seas up to eight metres in height because of the easterly gale.
The decision was made to connect a tow to the yacht along with a drogue - a device which attaches to the stern of a boat, slowing it down and keeping it steady. Due to the weather conditions this took nearly 45 minutes, by which time the boats had moved three miles to the north west because of the prevailing sea. A course was set for Teesmouth as the entrance to Whitby harbour was deemed too dangerous to tow the vessel into. The weather conditions meant the tow was slow and challenging for the lifeboat crew - at times the wind was gusting up to 50 mph.
At 2.30pm, the RNLI Whitby lifeboat was joined by RNLI Hartlepool all-weather lifeboat which stood by as Whitby lifeboat began towing the yacht into the mouth of the Tees to find calmer water. Hartlepool lifeboat then took control of the casualty for the long tow up river to a designated berth, releasing the Whitby RNLI crew to make their way back home before the tide and weather conditions made entering Whitby harbour more difficult. They arrived safely back into the harbour at 6pm.
Mike Russell, Whitby RNLI Coxswain, said: 'The weather conditions yesterday meant this was a very challenging rescue, particularly as transferring tow ropes and drogues to another vessel can be difficult and dangerous when the wind is strong and the sea is so rough. But the lifeboat crews from both Whitby and Hartlepool performed admirably, putting all their training and skill into practice to make sure the rescue was carried out safely and effectively.'

Thankfully, therefore, the 'Warnow' survived its experience of 'confused seas'!