Two calls for the Whitstable Lifeboat

On Friday evening the lifeboat was launched to a report of a red flare in the vicinity of the Kentish Flats windfarm. The Sheerness 'all weather' lifeboat was also attending.

Both lifeboats commenced a search around the windfarm using search lights and radar however were 'stood down' when it was confirmed the lights seen were those of a vessel at anchor to the north east of the Shivering Sands Towers.

The services of Whitstable lifeboat were called on again on Saturday afternoon when the crew were diverted from attending the Herne Bay Airshow to assist a 26-foot cruiser aground on the Pollard a 1/2-mile south of Shellness, Isle of Sheppey with two adults and four children onboard.

Due to the shallow water the lifeboat could only get to 300-metres from the casualty vessel so a crewmember walked to the craft and one adult and the four children were transferred using the vessels own inflatable dinghy to the lifeboat and taken ashore.

An anchor was laid out for the skipper of the cruiser who remained onboard and the craft left to refloat on the next tide.

Notes to editors

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.

The station is equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat named Lewisco, purchased through a bequest of a Mrs Lewis of London who passed away in 2006.

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.

RNLI media contacts

• Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
  07741 012004/ [email protected]

• Tim Ash, RNLI Public Relations Manager (London/East/South East)
  0207 6207426 / 07785 296252 / [email protected]

• Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer London/southeast/east Tel: 0207 6207416 Mob: (07786) [email protected]

For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

Key facts about the RNLI

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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