Father and son kayakers rescued after capsizing near St.Agnes
A father and son were rescued and assisted by two teams of St.Agnes Community Volunteer Lifesavers, after their kayak capsizes and washes into the surf with them.
The St.Agnes RNLI Lifeboat was launched at 1320hrs on 20 April 2019, to assist in the rescue of a father and son who were reported to be in the sea at Cligga Bay, near Perranporth.
The St.Agnes Life boat crew of Paul Fisher, Helm, along with Ed Schwarz and Trev Garland, Crew, proceeded to the area, to assist.
When the St.Agnes RNLI Lifeboat arrived at the scene in Cligga Bay, they found that the father especially was suffering from the effects of extreme cold and both of the casualties were out of the water, having been picked up by Gavin Forehead, one of the Lifeboat Helms, as he was in the area with his own boat. He used his boat handling skills to pick up the casualties and take care of them until the Lifeboat arrived.
The kayak was temporarily abandoned and the two casualties were returned immediately to St Agnes Beach in the Lifeboat, where they were met and treated for potential hypothermia by the St Agnes Surf Lifesaving Club, Volunteer Lifeguard Patrol and St Agnes Lifeboat Launching Authority, Martyn Ward and Shore Crew,Dave Ruse, Lloyd Stein and Lucie McNeil, Tom Forehead and Graham Slater.
Martyn Ward, RNLI Lifeguard Supervisor explained "the father and son decided to explore closer to shore and as they paddled in, a rogue wave sneaked up behind them and capsized the pair, they admitted that they had totally underestimated the potential surf conditions in at Cligga and said later that they didn't know what they would have done if the off duty crewman had not been there , The whole family are fairly experienced at kayaking the coast and were all wearing lifejackets which saved there lives.”
The St.Agnes Surf Lifesaving Club are part of the St.Agnes Community Lifesaving Team, and include the RNLI Lifeboat Crew, RNLI Lifeguards and HM Coastguard Team. The aim of this Lifesaving Team in to work much closer together with a sharing of knowledge of equipment and its use, skills and capabilities. They perform scenarios between them and close interaction, enabling any casualty in the St.Agnes area to feel as though the lifesavers are all one big team, rather than separate organisations, each performing their own actions.
On this occasion, the St.Agnes Community Lifesaving Team proved its worth by having a seamless cohesion between the St.Agnes RNLI Lifeboat and St.Agnes Surf Lifesaving Club.
Thankfully the casualties did not require any further medical assistance.
On this occasion, the St.Agnes Community Lifesaving Team proved its worth by having a seamless cohesion between the St.Agnes RNLI Lifeboat and St.Agnes Surf Lifesaving Club.
Thankfully the casualties did not require any further medical assistance.
The RNLI would like kayakers to review the advise at this link, which the casualties in this incident were following:
https://rnli.org/…/choose-your-activi…/kayaking-and-canoeing
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.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.