Clovelly RNLI volunteer crew involved in multi agency distress signal response
The Clovelly RNLI lifeboat volunteers were paged for service at 11.12am on Sunday 6 August after a distress signal coming from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was received by Falmouth Coastguard.
The volunteer crew quickly assembled and launched in the B class inshore lifeboat Toby Rundle within 5 minutes of being alerted. The signal was initially registered to a 15m schooner and its position was given by the coastguard to the crew.
Upon arrival nothing was visible and the signal had disappeared from the inshore lifeboat's direction finding equipment. An extensive search took place between Clovelly and Hartland Point, which also involved the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 187 and the Hartland Coastguard Cliff Rescue Team. After two hours of searching, all search and rescue assets were stood down.
Helm Rob Weare said: 'It was a difficult search as the distress signal was extremely intermittent and we were getting echoes due to the conditions. The EPIRB was first registered in 1999 and it was quite possible that it could have been malfunctioning at sea or indeed on land. However we carried out a thorough search regardless of this.'
After the inshore lifeboat was stood down, the volunteer crew returned to helping out with their annual Lifeboat Day celebrations. The crew involved on this call out were Sam Gist, Jamie Dawkin, Casie Harper and Helm Rob Weare.
RNLI media contacts
For more information please contact Rob Weare, Clovelly RNLI Lifeboat Press Officer at Robert_Weare@rnli.org.uk.
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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 over 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 142,700 lives.
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