TWO men were rescued by lifeboat off the west coast yesterday. St Peter Port Radio received a call at 2.25pm from Dolphin of Dee which was drifting off the Hanois lighthouse with no engine and two people on board.

The owner of the 40-year-old 30ft vessel, Mark Barrett, 43, was bringing it back on its final leg of a journey from Strangford Lough, near Belfast, having bought it there. Claude Van Martyn, who is experienced with boat deliveries, joined him on board.

They were initially in the middle of Mount Bay, between Land’s End and Penzance, when the port-side tank blocked on Tuesday morning.

The weather was perfect and after clearing it, they headed to Falmouth.

‘One tank with 20 hours of fuel should have been enough to get us to Guernsey but we ran into seas much worse than we ever considered as we hit the west coast of Guernsey off Richmond,’ said Mr Barrett. ‘We had to re-plot our course because the visibility was bad. Because we took such a wide berth and had been battling against the seas, we used up more fuel than we expected. It was far too rough and dangerous to get fuel tanks out and refuel.’

It was the worst conditions he had ever been out in and was a scary experience, although not for his colleague.

‘The wave heights were up to 11ft and it was after the shipping lanes that it went mental and the sea really boiled up.

‘The boat held up well and there was no way it was going to capsize. If it had been a yacht, it would have been much more scary but the boat is built like a fishing boat.

Looking back, he regretted leaving Falmouth.

‘We checked the weather forecast on three separate occasions and it said it was going to be force five to six possibly going up to seven. We just thought it would be choppy and by the time we reached the west coast of Guernsey, the visibility would not be too bad.

‘We did not anticipate it would be so rough and in hindsight would not have left Falmouth when we did. You never know if your engine will fail.

‘It just shows you can get caught out in the Channel if you are not careful. I never thought I would need a lifeboat and from time to time I will be making donations.

‘It’s not a lucky escape because we were not sinking and were not drifting towards the Hanois. But we were mightily glad they turned up – I had been seasick and was not capable of running at full strength. I was only operating on a third to half of my capability.’

The St Peter Port relief lifeboat was launched to tow the vessel to St Peter Port Harbour. It reached the casualty at 3.25pm and took it in tow, arriving back at 5.57pm as fog was setting in.

Mr Barrett’s wife, Katy, received a call from the harbour office before 4pm yesterday to alert her that the vessel had engine problems near the Hanois and the lifeboat had picked it up and was towing it back.

‘Thank goodness they were safe,’ she said.

‘I was just relieved to know how they were and that they were okay.’

At 12.29am today, St Peter Port Radio received a call from the vessel Lyllin, with six people aboard, which was dragging its anchor in Icart Bay and required immediate assistance.

The relief lifeboat was launched, reaching the casualty at 1.25. It escorted it back to St Peter Port harbour, arriving at 3am.