IT was an unlucky day on Friday, February 13 for the two occupants of a stranded vessel that required assistance from a Fowey RNLI lifeboat.

In their first shout of 2026, Falmouth Coastguard paged the Fowey Lifeboat Launch Authority with a request to assess and assist a 5m RIB with two people on board.

A Fowey RNLI spokesperson said: “They were drifting with no power or lights over 500m south of Fowey harbour entrance, with an offshore wind blowing the casualty vessel away from the shore.

“The crew were paged at 6,06pm and the Atlantic 85 lifeboat launched nine minutes later, arriving on scene just seven minutes later. After assessing the situation, the crew took the casualty vessel under tow and returned them safely to Penmarlam Quay in the Fowey River.

“Both casualties were wearing lifejackets and were able to call 999 for the coastguard, as they had a mobile phone with them onboard. They believed the engine failure was due to water in the fuel. After refuelling, the lifeboat returned to the station and was back on service at 7.18pm.”