Two shouts on a sunny Sunday for St Bees RNLI volunteers
On 2 April, the first warm Sunday of the year, the volunteer crew of St Bees RNLI were kept busy.
The first call came at 9:00am, when the team were asked to assist Whitehaven HM Coastguard with the safe removal of two large tree trunks that were adrift close to the entrance to Whitehaven Harbour. They were considered to be a hazard to shipping so the lifeboat crew towed the tree trunks close into the shore where they were passed on to the Coastguard.
The lifeboat then returned to the station where it was washed down and re-fuelled ready for the next call out.
The next call out came sooner than expected at 3:35pm just as many people were finishing their Sunday dinner. They were requested by UK Coastguard to go to the aid of a teenager caught out by the rising tide on Tom Hurds Rock close to Whitehaven Harbour.
The volunteers from St Bees quickly arrived at the scene and members of Whitehaven HM Coastguard met them on the shore. The lifeboat was able to get up close enough to the stranded teenager to enable them to get safely on-board. The lifeboat then took the casualty into Whitehaven Harbour and passed them into the care of waiting Coastguard.
St Bees Volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager, Dick Beddows said: 'We are all glad that on this occasion we were able to rescue the young person cut off by the incoming tide, but I would advise anyone who intends going down to the sea locally or when on holiday to always check the local tide times. These can easily be found online in the local papers as well as at your local lifeboat or lifeguard station.'
Notes to editors- St Bees lifeboat station has been operating since 1974. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to http://www.rnli.org.uk/StBees
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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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