The relief lifeboat at Beaumaris has a busy introduction to the station.
Since her arrival on the 18 April the relief lifeboat Norma Ethel Vinall has had an aborted 2.33 am request on Friday 20 April to launch (which was cancelled at 2.38 am). A launch at 3.50 pm on Saturday 21 April and a further service on Saturday 28 April 2018.
In the latest incident the volunteer crew members of the Beaumaris lifeboat were paged at 6.13 pm and the lifeboat launched at 6.23 pm following a request received from the U.K Coastguard to assist a jet ski with an engine problem.
The rider of the jets ski was unable to restart the engine and drifting with the tide down the Menai Straits from Menai Bridge towards Bangor pier.
As the lifeboat approached Menai Bridge the craft was located close to an island by Cadnant Bridge on the outskirts of the town.
After a cautious approach due to the danger of running aground the lifeboat managed to get alongside the jet ski and transfer the rider on to the lifeboat. A friend of the rider was on the island but it was deemed too precarious to have him make his way to the lifeboat down some very slippery rocks. Consequently it he was asked to make his way on foot to the slipway at Menai Bridge whilst the lifeboat crew informed the Bangor mobile coastguard team.
In the meantime the lifeboat took the craft in an alongside tow to the slipway at Menai Bridge where a waiting coastguard team and another friend of the rider had arrived to recover the vessel from the water.
Once the jet ski was handed over to the coastguards the lifeboat took her rider to the pier at Menai Bridge so he could safely disembark from the lifeboat.
On completion of this task and with the agreement of the U.K. Coastguard the lifeboat returned to her station at Beaumaris.
The lifeboat was recovered at by 6.50 pm being washed down, refuelled and prepared for her next service call this being achieved by 7.25 pm.
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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