Two Rescued by Whitstable Lifeboat after Dinghy Overturns Off Reculver
Two anglers had to be rescued in a joint operation involving lifeboats from Whitstable and Margate, the Herne Bay Coastguard Rescue Team and the South East Coast Ambulance Service after their 14-foot dinghy was overwhelmed by a wave off Reculver between Herne Bay and Birchington today (June 20).
The Whitstable Atlantic 85 Lifeboat Lewisco was launched at 8.52am after the UK Coastguard received a report from a person onshore who had spotted the anglers in distress. The location of the casualties was also confirmed by a passing yacht which was approximately 1-mile from the casualties but unfortunately on the wrong side of a sandbank and unable to reach them.
The Whitstable Lifeboat located the casualties almost immediately after arriving in the area. Helmsman Dave Parry said: 'The two men, one aged 74 and the other believed to be in his 60's were in the water holding onto their upturned craft and we brought them onboard the lifeboat. They were both extremely cold and managed to tell us they had been in the water for around two and a half hours.
Both were wrapped in thermal blankets and were proceeded to land them at the Neptune Slipway where the ambulance service and coastguard were waiting. In the meantime the Margate 'All-Weather' lifeboat arrived to recover their dinghy'.
'It was very fortunate that we arrived when we did and given their condition the outcome may have been very different and it was fortunate that both the 'first' informant on shore and the yacht spotted and confirmed their position'.
Whitstable Lifeboat Operations Manager Mike Judge said “ The two were very lucky to survive the incident and it shows the value of people reporting what they see to the emergency services'.
Ends.
Picture caption:
The scene at the Neptune Slipway, Herne Bay after Whitstable Lifeboat landed two anglers ashore into the care of the ambulance service and the coastguard after they had spent over two hours in the water following the overturning of their dinghy on Wednesday morning. Picture: RNLI Whitstable.
Other information:
Crew: Dave Parry (Helmsman, Andy Williams and Ruth Oliver.
Launchers: Andy Clarke (Tractor) Michael Coulson-Tabb and Ray Davies.
Weather conditions: South Westerly force 3 winds. Sunny.
Note to Editors:
Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat Station was established in 1963 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and is one of 237 lifeboat stations around the shores of the UK and Ireland. The volunteer crews provide a maritime search and rescue service for the Kent coast. They cover the area between the Kingsferry Bridge on the Swale, in the west, around the south-eastern side of Sheppey and along the coast through Whitstable and Herne Bay to Reculver in the east and outwards into the Thames Estuary.
The station is equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat named Lewisco, purchased through a bequest of a Mrs Lewis of London who passed away in 2006.
She is what is known as a rigid inflatable inshore lifeboat, the boat’s rigid hull being topped by an inflatable sponson. She carries a crew of four people.
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Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
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Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer London/southeast/east Tel: 0207 6207416 Mob: (07786) [email protected]
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