Author: James Baggott

Two yachts aground in the space of less than 12 hours kept rescuers from an independent lifeboat station busy this weekend. As temperatures soared across the south, so too did the work load for Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS) which was called into action...

Local nautical firm Lewmar has dug deep to help out its local independent lifeboat station by donating a new anchor. Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS) needed a new, smaller anchor for the ‘Joan Dora Fuller’ lifeboat and Lewmar came to the rescue. The firm donated...

A single-handed sailor who got into trouble on his way back from France to Portsmouth was assisted by rescuers on Friday. The skipper of the 24ft yacht called UK Coastguard for assistance when a sail got caught in the boat’s propeller in the middle of the...

A stricken motorboat that had been stranded in rolling seas and high winds was pulled to safety by rescuers on Monday. The 34ft powerboat had been struck by engine failure close to the Browndown shore but had managed to drop its anchor. UK Coastguard paged Gosport &...

A 35-year-old sailor who suffered a head injury when his vessel overturned in The Solent was assisted by the crews of an independent lifeboat on Saturday. The man, from Portsmouth, was sailing with a friend in a 5.9-metre catamaran when they were overturned near No Man’s...

Rescuers were called to assist a RIB which had lost power and was dangerously adrift in a shipping channel on Saturday morning. The vessel, which had two persons on board, issued a Pan Pan distress call when it lost power off Gilkicker, Stokes Bay, Gosport. The crew...

Rescuers rushed to a stricken yacht when it issued a mayday distress call yesterday as it was dangerously drifting towards the shoreline. The vessel called for urgent help on its VHF radio when it lost power off Browndown, Gosport, around 1pm. Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service...

Two jet skiers dangerously drifting in The Solent on Thursday evening were assisted by volunteer rescue crews. Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS) was launched by UK Coastguard to assist the jet skis which had been struck with engine failure one after the other. The jet...

Rescuers from a lifeboat station who helped airlift a seriously ill woman to hospital will feature on a BBC1 television show this Friday. Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service’s operation to help the Coastguard airlift a woman off Spitbank Fort on August Bank Holiday Monday last...

Rescuers were called to a speedboat that was smashing against rocks on Southsea seafront after its engine failed on Saturday. Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS) was on routine patrol near Portsmouth Harbour entrance at 1159 when UK Coastguard tasked them to assist. Gosport independent lifeboat was...