Busy Sunday for Withernsea RNLI volunteers
Withernsea lifeboat launched on service twice to two separate incidents this afternoon (Sunday 9 July), following their routine Sunday morning exercise.
Having finished training at lunch time, Withernsea's RNLI volunteers were first paged at 1:04pm to a broken down fishing vessel 10 miles east of Withernsea. Withernsea lifeboat set up a tow and towed the fishing vessel back to Withernsea, under the watchful eye of Humber RNLI Lifeboat who had also been tasked to the incident as safety cover. The volunteer crew were all finished for 3:30pm when they headed home.
Just over half an hour later at 4:07pm, the crew were paged again by the UK Coastguard to a vessel south of Withernsea that had fouled its propeller. With the casualty vessel already having collided with a beach groyne, the decision was made to tow the vessel back to Withernsea.
Helmsman Antony Binns said: "The crew have had a very busy Sunday. We exercise every Sunday to ensure our skills are kept current because you never know when the call will come - and today we've had two!
We're glad the crews of both boats are safe and well, and we thank our colleagues at Humber RNLI for providing safety cover earlier on, as we were far out for an inshore lifeboat. Hopefully the crew can rest up now and enjoy the rest of their Sunday with their families."
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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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