Cycling in drysuits to rescue a unicorn, interesting start to busy bank holiday
Cycling in drysuits to rescue a unicorn, interesting start to busy bank holiday
Lifeboats News Release
The volunteers at Aberystwyth had a busy bank holiday with call outs on Friday 26 May and Sunday 28 May, as well as attending the Town and gown cycle fest and Glengower raft race.
RNLI/Huw Fairclough
Aberystwyth RNLI crewmembers taking part in Cyclefest 2017 photo by Huw Fairclough
The weekend started on Friday evening when four of the crew had just started the Aberystwyth CycleFest Town and Gown cycle race around the streets of Aberystwyth in old and damaged drysuits and sweltering heat. Whilst the race was ongoing the rest of the crew were paged to reports of a large inflatable being blown out to sea.
The rest of the crew quickly launched the Arancia inshore rescue boat which was on scene off North beach in view of the cyclefest crowds where they located the huge inflatable unicorn with no people on board. A quick search of the area identified no people in distress in the water, so the unicorn was returned to shore and eventually reunited with its owners where sea safety advice on using inflatables with an offshore wind and magical animal care was discussed. Shortly after the Arancia returned to station the cyclists finished their race and were glad to get some refreshments.
On Sunday as both lifeboats were getting ready to launch to support the annual Glengower Charity raft race the pagers went off again and the crew were informed that a person was missing.
The Atlantic 85 ‘Spirit of Friendship’ was launched with 4 crew to go and search between Aberystwyth and Clarach, they were also joined by Borth Lifeboat who started searching the coast from Borth southwards and the Aberystwyth Coastguard rescue team. The arancia continued to support the raft race until it was finished, at which point it too joined the search along the cliffs between Aberystwyth and Borth.
With nothing found all search teams were stood down and returned to station.
RNLI media contacts
For more information please contact Paul McCann, 07787785614 or RNLI Public Relations on 01202 336789.
RNLI/Huw Fairclough
Aberystwyth RNLI crewmembers taking part in Cyclefest 2017 photo by Huw Fairclough
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.
