Barmouth Inshore Lifeboat called out to rubber dinghy
When a Barmouth RNLI Volunteer Jon Rollins saw a small dinghy far out to sea on 1 July 2017, he became immediately concerned.
Jon spotted the small inflatable over 200 yards out to sea off the north end of Barmouth promenade. There were no other craft in the vicinity so no time was lost in reporting it to the UK Coastguard who requested that Barmouth Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) to investigate.
The volunteer crew launched at 1.01 pm and, after a thorough search of the surrounding area, nothing was found. Assuming that this was a false alarm with good intent, the ILB returned to station at 2.00 pm.
‘This was a very small dinghy which was a long way out to sea and not making any headway’ said Jon. ‘We are always trained to err on the side of caution and I felt I had to raise the alarm. I could not have slept if the outcome had been different and I had not alerted the Coastguard and RNLI’.
Coxswain Peter Davies said:
‘Our crew are trained to spot dangers out at sea and to recognise hazardous situations. As the saying goes ‘If in doubt, give us a shout!’’
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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