St Catherine RNLI lifeboat crew assists kayker in difficulties
The St Catherine RNLI volunteer inshore lifeboat crew were tasked with assisting a kayaker who had found himself in difficulties on the north coast on the afternoon of Saturday 9 September.
The Jersey Coastguard was contacted by the kayaker who had found himself in difficulties following changeable conditions after paddling east from Greve de Lecq on Saturday afternoon. Whilst he was not in any immediate danger, he was not able to make any progress from the cove in which he was sheltering. The kayaker raised the alarm using his mobile phone and the coastguard were able to identify his location from a photo shared with the Duty Officer.
The volunteer RNLI crew were paged just before 4pm and launched shortly after. Whilst conditions on the east of Jersey were benign, the conditions off the north coast were more challenging, with 2m waves in a confused sea and force 6 winds.
On arriving at the scene, the St Catherine lifeboat crew quickly located the kayaker and took advantage of the relative shelter afforded by the cove behind Isle Agois by asking him to paddle out to the lifeboat. The kayaker and his craft were then taken on board and returned to Greve de Lecq where he was put ashore.
Nigel Sweeney, Lifeboat Operations Manager for St Catherine RNLI, commented: 'The kayaker had acted sensibly in the circumstances. The sea conditions around Jersey can change quite dramatically with different states of the tide and, on recognising that he was in difficulties, this kayaker found shelter and called for help.'
'Anyone who is undertaking water-based activities in or around the coast away from lifeguarded beaches should follow the usual rules of letting someone know when and where they are going, carrying an effective means of communication in case they get into trouble, bearing in mind that mobile signals can be patchy off the north coast. They should also wear suitable clothing.'
After completion of the rescue operation, the lifeboat returned to St Catherine lifeboat station where it was readied for the next service.
Note to editors
Video footage of the rescue can be found here: https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2017/september/10/st-catherine-rnli-rescue-kayaker
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