Dunbar Lifeboat Station

A new lifeboat coxswain faced a high seas drama on Saturday night on his first rescue in charge. Jamie Lamb (25)took the Dunbar lifeboat through near gale force winds and high seas to go to the aid of a yacht in difficulty off the East Lothian coast. The two crew of the Port Edgar based yacht Explorer had become disorientated in mountainous waves, suffering from severe sea sickness. Jamie, Dunbar's new deputy second coxswain, says: ‘When we arrived at the lifeboat berth at Torness on Saturday night, I initially thought there was a chance we would not be able to leave the mooring, the seas were so big. ‘The yacht had given her position as 1½ miles north of Dunbar, but once we got out of Torness we discovered she was actually over 8 miles North. ‘It took the best part of an hour to reach her, punching our way through a fairly big sea. I was talking to the yacht crew on the radio most of the way there, reassuring them that we were on our way, and it was clear they were in a lot of trouble.’ When the Dunbar lifeboat, the John Neville Taylor, reached the stricken yacht, Jamie made one attempt to get alongside to take the man and woman off the boat. ‘It was just too tricky,’ he says, ‘the waves were massive and I ended up hitting the yacht. Fortunately, no damage was caused. ‘We could see the man and woman onboard were in pretty poor shape and had to be got off quickly, so I told them to motor a little further north to get into the calmer water in the lee of the Isle of May. ‘Once there we were able to get alongside for a couple of moments – just enough time to get them off and two of our crew onboard the yacht.’ Jamie's two volunteer lifeboat crew were Stuart Pirrie and the station’s newest crewman, Jamie Forrester. Once the transfer was completed, the lifeboat headed off to Anstruther and the yacht, which needed a deeper harbour, headed for Pittenweem. The causalities were met in Anstruther by paramedics and treated at the town’s lifeboat station. Dunbar's senior Coxswain, Gary Fairbairn, paid tribute to his young assistant after the rescue. ‘This was truly a baptism of fire for Jamie. He demonstrated real cool and a high level of seamanship, carrying out what would be a difficult rescue for even the most experienced of coxswains.’