After a busy August with 15 calls it wasn’t long before the volunteer’s pagers sounded for the first time in September. A 12m yacht with 2 POB was in difficulties 4.5Nm SW of St Albans Head. The yacht had become entangled in a lobster pot marker buoy and was stuck fast to the sea bed. With the tide building the skipper was right to be concerned with the situation. Although the sea was calm the tide was going to start putting a significant strain on whatever was caught on the pot buoy. This could be the rudder or prop shaft and damage to either could lead to a significant water leak. The lifeboat launched and was on scene with the casualty vessel 22 minutes later. After a quick asessment it was decided that the lifeboat crew would try and grapnel for the buoy line and cut it. After 4 or 5 attempts the buoy line was finally caught, pulled to the surface and cut. The yacht was now difting free and all the remained was for the yacht’s skipper to check that the steering and propulsion were working correctly and that there was no water ingress. This was done and all seemed to be well. The yacht set course for Yarmouth and the lifeboat escorted them for 10 minutes to ensure that the situation remained stable. The yacht’s skipper was happy that everything was fine so the lifeboat was released to return to Swanage.