Two Calls for Whitstable RNLI
There have been two calls on the Whitstable Atlantic 85 RNLI lifeboat over the weekend, both on Saturday.
However shortly after launching the lifeboat was ‘stood down’ when it was reported by the coastguard team that the 1st informant had in fact seen a yellow 8-knot buoy.
The lifeboat was launched again on Saturday when at 9.42pm the crew were tasked with locating a speedboat with 2-persons onboard aground under the cliffs at Warden Point, Isle of Sheppey.
The lifeboat located the casualties with their craft ‘high and dry’ on the beach at the foot of the cliffs however due to the conditions the lifeboat was unable to approach the shore. The Sheppey Coastguard Rescue Team were in attendance.
Both the lifeboat and the coastguard team were stood down after the two occupants of the boat made their own way to safety up the cliffs unassisted.
There have now been 13 calls on the volunteer crews at Whitstable RNLI so far this year.
Notes to editors
Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat Station was established in 1963 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and is one of 237 lifeboat stations around the shores of the UK and Ireland. The volunteer crews provide a maritime search and rescue service for the Kent coast. They cover the area between the Kingsferry Bridge on the Swale, in the west, around the south-eastern side of Sheppey and along the coast through Whitstable and Herne Bay to Reculver in the east and outwards into the Thames Estuary.
The station is equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat named Lewisco, purchased through a bequest of a Miss Lewis of London who passed away in 2006.
She is what is known as a rigid inflatable inshore lifeboat, the boat’s rigid hull being topped by an inflatable sponson. She carries a crew of four people.
RNLI media contacts
Chris Davey, Press Officer RNLI Whitstable on 07741 012004 or email [email protected]
For more information please telephone Hatti Mellor, RNLI Regional Communications Manager on 07724 801305 or email [email protected] or Julie Rainey, RNLI Regional Media Manager on 07827 358256 or [email protected] or RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789 or at [email protected]
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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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
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