Barmouth RNLI Inshore Lifeboat called out twice to incidents on busy beaches
As record temperatures continued in North Wales, Barmouth Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) the Craig Steadman, was called out twice on Sunday 30th June 2018.
The crew were paged at 3.09 pm when reports of three young children, all under 12 years old, missing on the beach opposite Heol y Llan, were received. One of the children was last seen near the water’s edge.
The volunteer crew launched at 3.20 pm and were conducting a shoreline search of the area when a message was received at 4.20 pm that they had been found by the Coastguard. The ILB returned to the station and was ready for service again by 4.45pm.
Later that evening at 7.55pm, they were again alerted by Holyhead coastguard that a report had been received from a member of the public, of an inflatable dinghy with what appeared to be one person on board, drifting out towards the northern end of the promenade near the Coastguard Station.
Volunteers and crew were enjoying a barbecue near the station when the report was received so were able to launch immediately and were on scene by 8.14 pm. On arrival, they were surprised to discover that the dinghy was in fact an inflatable unicorn! After ensuring that no-one was in the water in the area, the ILB returned to station at 8.37 pm to resume their social evening in the sunshine.
Barmouth RNLI Coxswain said: ‘While our volunteers are quite used to white horses, they do not usually go chasing unicorns or any other mythical creature in Cardigan Bay! However the information received was entirely credible and it is understandable that the person thought it was and dinghy and we are glad that it was reported. It is always best to err on the side of safety in these cases.’
The unicorn was brought ashore and the boat was ready for service by 20.45.
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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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