Cardigan RNLI launch twice in a busy afternoon
Cardigan RNLI Lifeboat Station volunteers carried out two rescues in the space of a few hours on Thursday 13 July.
The first call-out came at around 4.30pm to a capsized sailing dinghy off Aberporth, with two people in the water.
The Poppit Sands-based Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat John Darbyshire was launched and was quickly on the scene, with the casualties having drifted towards Tresaith.
With assistance from RNLI lifeguards, the two people were picked up and handed over to paramedics on the beach.
The alarm was raised a second time at around 11.30pm to two paddleboarders missing off Tresaith.
Again the Atlantic 85 lifeboat took to the water and the volunteer crew was able to locate the two casualties, who had drifted more than half a mile out to sea in the strong wind.
Light from the casualties’ mobile phone torch guided the Cardigan crew to their location in almost pitch-black conditions. The pair were returned to the waiting Coastguard unit on the beach.
‘I cannot praise the response of the crew enough on both occasions,’ said Cardigan RNLI Lifeboat Station Operations Manager Pete Austin.
On the same day, the station had played host to a visit by 120 schoolchildren, while earlier in the week, on Monday 10 July, the crew had been called out to reports of a cliff walker who was overdue.
The RNLI crew was tasked with a shoreline search but soon stood down when the walker was safely located.
And all this in the middle of a hectic training period for the station’s volunteers.
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Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
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