Both Swanage lifeboats were called into action on Sunday afternoon after a 30 ft motorboat issued an urgency call.

The motorboat had grounded on a rocky ledge that runs out from the middle of the beach at Swanage Bay.

With over an hour until low water the skipper of the motorboat requested assistance. The call was made at about 1.45pm.

The lifeboats launched with the inshore lifeboat arriving on scene first, closely followed by the all weather lifeboat. 

A crewmember was put aboard the stricken vessel to assess the situation and check the condition of the skipper.

The skipper was well but the boat was hard aground with the tide still falling fast. 

It was deemed too dangerous to pull the boat clear of the rocks as it was very likely to cause more damage so the boat’s anchor was deployed and the skipper taken off. 

Both lifeboats then returned to station to wait for the tide to rise. 

At around 4.15pm the ILB relaunched to see if the boat had refloated, it had so it was checked for ingress of water, there was none, so the boat was towed to the RNLI mooring.

The skipper was ferried out and the boat’s machinery checked over.

Everything seemed to be working fine but the skipper wasn’t keen to return to Poole Harbour in the dark so the boat was left on the mooring for him to collect yesterday the morning.