Another busy weekend for the Sheerness RNLI lifeboat crew

The volunteer crew of the Sheerness RNLI inshore lifeboat launched at 6.00pm on Friday 21 July after a call from the UK Coastguard reporting that an 8meter yacht ‘Anna Marie’ with two people on board had suffered mechanical failure and was drifting close to Queenborough Spit in the Medway estuary.

The lifeboat crew quickly located the yacht which had drifted close to the shore behind number five berth in Sheerness docks.

A tow line was attached and the craft was towed back into deeper water and taken to a mooring buoy in Queenborough Harbour.

Weather conditions were reasonable with a South Westerly wind blowing force three to four at the time of the incident.

The ILB returned to station at 6.45pm

The crew of the Sheerness RNLI all weather lifeboat were also in action after a call from the UK Coastguard at 2.04pm on Saturday 22 July requesting the ALB take over the towing of a 34foot cruiser from the Southend RNLI lifeboat.

The cruiser ‘Silver Lady’ with three people on board had suffered engine failure off the Essex coast and had been taken in tow by the Southend lifeboat and brought back across the estuary to meet the Sheerness lifeboat in the area of the Montgomery wreck.

Having taken over the tow the ALB took the craft, which had originally sailed from Gillingham Marina, into Queenborough Harbour where it was secured to a mooring.

Weather conditions at the time were squally with a fresh south westerly wind.

The ALB was back on station at 3.43pm.

Both lifeboats were launched for excercise at midday on Sunday 23 July when along with the RNLI Lifeguard team on the beach at Minster Leas, Sheerness, they demonstrated their lifesaving skills to the many people on the shore attending the very popular ‘Cars on the Prom’ event which takes place along the seafront promenade.

For the exercise two members of the lifeboat crew were rescued by the Lifeguards after their very small rubber dinghy overturned tipping them into the water. The inshore lifeboat crew were then called in to action taking both the lifeboat ‘casualties’, along with one of the lifeguards who had paddle boarded out to assist the rescue, back to the shore where they were successfully resuscitated by the RNLI Lifeguard team, much to the amusement of the watching crowds.

Ends

Media Contacts

RNLI media contacts

Vic Booth RNLI Lifeboat Press Officer (Sheerness) 07926904453 / 01795 880544 [email protected] / [email protected]

Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer S.E. [email protected] 07786668825

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

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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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

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