St Agnes RNLI lifeboat and lifeguards work together to rescue two kayakers
St Agnes RNLI lifeboat and lifeguards worked together yesterday (Tuesday 28 June) to help two kayakers in difficulty off Newdowns Head, west of Trevaunance Cove.
The two kayakers were part of a kayak tour and had capsized when a heavy squall came through, forcing them to collide with another kayak. The wind, which had quickly developed to a force 5 in a short space of time, carried the kayaks out to sea leaving the casualties in the water.
RNLI lifeguard Tom Stewart-Leech was already in the water on a rescue board carrying out a patrol to check on the kayakers. St Agnes RNLI lifeboat XKalibur was launched at 2.55pm and RNLI lifeguard Tom helped direct the volunteer lifeboat crew to the kayakers in the water.
Crewmembers Gavin Forehead, Paul Fisher and Dominic May quickly located the casualties and took them aboard the D class lifeboat and back to shore. In the meantime Tom helped assist the rest of the kayak tour back to the beach.
Once the casualties had been checked over, the lifeboat crew returned to sea to search for the missing kayaks, which were found a mile and a half away from the incident at Cligga Cove.
Volunteer helm of St Agnes RNLI Gavin Forehead said: ‘It was an extremely well executed shout today with a good end result.’
Tom Wildblood, the kayak instructor involved in the incident, explained: ‘We saw that the wind had strengthened while we were at sea so we made sure the kayakers were in a safe and sheltered place. It’s great that St Agnes has such fantastic life-saving resources on the beach, and it’s reassuring to know that we have the professionals on call when we need them most.’
Notes to editors
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