Whitstable Lifeboat Station Christmas Fair
Stormy Stan the Lifeboat Man had his morning entertaining visitors to Whitstable lifeboat station's Christmas fair interrupted on Saturday when he was called away to help crew the lifeboat when it was launched to a report of a broken down jet ski off Herne Bay.
However the call on the lifeboat was a short one and Stan was back at the boathouse about 3/4-hour later to resume showing people the lifeboat.
John Hill, volunteer shop manager at Whitstable RNLI said “Our Christmas fair is always a popular affair and is always well attended by supporters and friends of the station and this year visitors to the boathouse where treated to the sight of the lifeboat being launched and recovered on it's 44th call of the year”
“Trade was fairly brisk throughout the morning with plenty of customers for all our usual attractions which included a Christmas raffle, tombola, bottle stall, cakes, and preserves, soft toys and knitted items and children's games to name but a few. For those who braved the rather chilly morning, the lifeboat was on display outside the boathouse”.
This was the 44th call of the year for Whitstable's volunteer lifeboat crew's and the first call as helmsman for Tim Smith and also for the stations new deputy launching authority Andrew Bennett.
“This year the fair raised around £1479 including sales in our souvenir shop which is a very good total and our thanks go to all those who supported the event including customers and our volunteers. The monies raised will go towards the continuing running costs of the station which this year has seen our volunteer lifeboat crews launch on as of Saturday on 44 occasions to incidents in our area of operations”.
Whitstable's Atlantic 85 lifeboat 'Lewisco' was launched at 10.43am on Saturday morning following a report of a broken down jet ski 4-5 miles off Herne Bay.
Whilst proceeding on the call the crew were informed that the Whitstable National Coastwatch Institution had reported that the casualty was now 1-mile off Long Rock, Swalecliffe.
The lifeboat crew located the craft and it's male occupant and took them under tow to the slipway at Neptune Jetty, Herne Bay.
The occupant of the jet ski who came from London had not been in the water and was unharmed.
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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