Five
Saved as Boat Capsizes
Sligo Weekender, Tuesday,
August 19, 2003
A
student and a solicitor rescued five people from one of the most treacherous
channels of water in Ireland, at Rosses Point.
The
channel, Sruth na Maoile, located between Oyster Island and Coney Island in
Sligo bay, has an extremely strong current and was the scene of a number of
boating accidents over the years.
On
this occasion everyone on board the boat, including three young children, were
rescued by Rosses Point native Daryl Ewing and Sligo solicitor Joe Carter.
Both
men were fishing at Sruth Na Maoile in separate boats when the accident
happened.
The
anchor of a boat belonging to another Point resident, Redmond Gillen, was
snagged by the strong current, turning the boat over and throwing the five
passengers, Mr Gillen and his young son and Strandhill resident Seamie McGowan
and his two children into the water.
While
Mr Gillen and the two youngest children, boys aged 9 and 8 held on to the
upturned boat, Seamie McGowan and his daughter, aged 12, drifted away from the
boat.
Thinking
quickly, Daryl Ewing untied his anchor and raced for the two drifting in the
direction of the Sligo channel.
“I
was anchored as well, but I untied the anchor and tied a life jacket on to the
rope. It was quicker than pulling up the anchor.
“I
went to get the two that drifted away from the boat, a girl who couldn’t swim
and a man with a bad cut on his finger. It was caught under the anchor rope.
“By
the time I got them into the boat the other three were pulled in.
“Mine
was the only boat strong enough to tow (the upturned) boat to Oyster Island. I
beached the boat on Oyster and then I went to Coney.”
Mr
Ewing described the stretch of water as ‘treacherous’.
“There’s
rocks on the left (from the Rosses Point side) and a beach on the right with the
channel in the middle. The tide rushes in between the two islands. It’s a
strong current. I think it’s the strongest in Ireland.”
At
the same time that Daryl Ewing was rescuing the two that had drifted away from
the boat, solicitor Joe Carter brought his boat alongside the stricken vessel
and rescued the three left clinging to it.
All
five people rescued were brought to Coney Island, where they were calmed down
and dried off. The only injury sustained was to Mr McGowan, who had to receive
stitches for a finger injury.
He
was taken to the RNLI Lifeboat Station on Rosses Point where his injury was
dressed before being rushed to Sligo General Hospital.
The
boat was extensively damaged by the freak accident.
