RNLI volunteers at Portishead hit their busiest year
This year has proved to be the busiest year since a lifeboat has been in service on the Estuary.
The RNLI volunteers, some of whom have been on call during the whole 20 year history in Portishead, have had their highest record of 35 call outs in one year overtaken this weekend.
On Sunday (9th October) at 3.01pm just as the crew had got home from their busy training session, the volunteers were paged once more to call out number 43. The Coastguards at Milford Haven had picked up a very feint ‘mayday Portishead’ call. A mayday is the highest priority distress call indicating that a person or vessel is in grave and imminent danger with a serious risk to life. Working with the Coastguard Helicopter crew and Coastguard shore teams from Portishead and Chepstow an extensive search of the Bristol Channel from Clevedon up to and beyond the Severn Crossing (the old bridge) was launched. After two hours of thorough searching the rescue teams were stood down as nothing was found.
Dave Hodges, crew volunteer for 18 years and lifeboat helm, said ‘It is always disappointing to be stood down from a call of this nature when nothing has been found. So much time and effort goes in to searching for just the smallest sign of life. It is very sad to come home empty handed.’
Once the volunteers got back to the station everything was washed down and My Lady Anne, Portishead’s Atlantic 85 class lifeboat was ready for her next call by 6pm.
The Portishead Lifeboat Trust, which had been operating as an independent lifeboat service from 1996 for 19 years, were adopted by the RNLI in April 2015. Its original station was based next to the Portishead Yacht and Sailing Club at Sugar Loaf Beach. After a suitable site was found the RNLI built a brand new state of the art, lifeboat station for the volunteers to operate from. Since moving to the new station the crew have been called out a total of 61 times, which has resulted in assisting 75 people, 5 dogs and saving 2 lives.
Duty Launch Authority Adam Forrest, who has been a volunteer for 18 years, recalls ‘I keep a list of historical data which shows that our average number of calls has been just over 20 a year for the last 20 years. Our busiest year prior to 2016 was 2002 when we had 35 calls.’
The volunteers would like to urge the community to always call 999 and ask for the Coastguard if they see something they are worried about in or by the water. All calls are taken seriously.
#RespectTheWater #SavingLivesAtSea
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Photos are ©RNLI Portishead
My Lady Anne launching on service on Sunday afternoon.
Volunteer shore crew back at the Station waiting for the lifeboat to return.
Portishead Lifeboat Station
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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 146,000 lives.
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