Whitstable RNLI assist Sailing Cruiser

The Whitstable B-Class lifeboat Lewisco was launched at 6.39pm and located the casualty vessel under sail but with no means of engine power around 2-miles east of The Spile Buoy off Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey.

There was uncertainty about the ability of the crafts anchor to hold so the owner requested the 33-foot craft be taken to a place of safety.

It was therefore decided that as it was low water, the best option was for the vessel to be towed to Queenborough on Sheppey and the request was made that the Sheerness All-Weather lifeboat, be tasked to take over the tow and both lifeboats subsequently rendezvoused near to The Spile Buoy and Sheerness ALB took over the tow. The 3-occupants remained onboard their craft.

Whitstable lifeboat was released from the service at 8.09pm and returned to station.

Weather conditions at the time were Westerly force 3 winds, good visibility and a smooth sea. This was the 46^th call of the year for the volunteers at Whitstable RNLI.

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, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
    07741 012004/ [email protected]

  • Julie Rainey - Regional Communications Lead : 07827 358256

  • Hatti Mellor - Regional Communications Manager :07724 801305

  For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 3367

  
  

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.

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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

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