Busy Week at Whitstable RNLI
It has been a busy week at Whitstable RNLI with the station’s B-Class lifeboat Lewisco and crews responding to 7-calls, launching for 5-afloat exercises and volunteers taking part in 5-shore based training sessions.
On Bank Holiday Monday the lifeboat was launched at 7.33pm following a report of 3 paddle boarders in difficulty off Tankerton and on arrival at the scene 300-yards offshore one paddle boarder was found to be in the water. However all confirmed they were not in need of assistance and the lifeboat was released to return to station.
Thursday evening saw Lewisco launched to investigate 2-craft and 4-persons in the vicinity of the old Herne Bay pier head and appeared to be drifting westwards.
The crew located both craft and their occupants were transferred to the lifeboat and landed ashore to the care of the coastguard team.
There were two calls on Friday evening when the lifeboat was launched to assist emergency services with persons reported as ‘in the water’ but was stood down when it was confirmed casualties were ashore.
During Saturday afternoon Lewisco was launched to assist a Wanderer class yacht with a torn sail in The Swale which was unable to ‘make way’. Another Wanderer that had been towing the yacht had also had problems making headway and the pair of craft once located were taken under tow back to Whitstable.
Having returned the two craft to the shore the lifeboat was given a further ‘tasking’ when Dover Coastguard requested the lifeboat to assist a yacht with 3-persons onboard needing assistance off Sheerness. The Sheerness D-Class lifeboat was also proceeding to help.
Sheerness lifeboat put a crew member on the yacht who assisted in taking the vessel to a mooring buoy. Two of the persons onboard the yacht were unwilling to continue with the journey so were taken off by the Whitstable lifeboat. The yacht skipper confirmed he would continue the following day on his own to Gillingham Marina.
Notes to editors
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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.
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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.
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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.
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RNLI media contacts
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Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
07741 012004/ [email protected] -
Julie Rainey - Regional Communications Lead : 07827 358256
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Jess Curtis, Regional Communications Manager. Mob: 07483 488243| Email: [email protected]
- For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789
RNLI Media Contacts
For further information, please contact:
Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for RNLI South East, [email protected]
Jess Curtis, RNLI Regional Communications Manager for London and South East England, 07483 488243, [email protected]
Julie Rainey, RNLI Regional Communications Lead for London and South East England, 07827 358256, [email protected]
RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789, [email protected]
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.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.