Early morning call out for Troon RNLI lifeboat
At 4.54am on Thursday 25 July 2019, there was an early morning wake up call for Troon lifeboat crew as their pagers were activated by Belfast Coastguard to launch the all-weather lifeboat to assist Ayrshire Police with a person in a coastal cave at the Heads of Ayr.
Concerned family members had contacted the Police after being unable to contact the person due to poor mobile reception.
The volunteer crew left their beds and made their way to the lifeboat station to launch Trent class all-weather lifeboat RNLB Jim Moffat to assist Police officers and Coastguard teams from Ardrossan, Ayr and Girvan.
On route, the crew prepared the XP boat, a daughter boat carried aboard the lifeboat, to launch into the shallow waters at the scene. On arrival, two crewmembers went ashore in the XP boat and, guided by the coastguard teams, located the person within the cave.
The person was assisted from the cave by the XP boat crew before being transferred ashore to the waiting coastguard personnel.
With the person in the care of the Police and Coastguard, the XP boat crew returned to the all-weather lifeboat. At 6.45am the crew returned to Troon where the lifeboats were made 'ready for service' with the assistance of the shore crew before the crew returned home to get ready for their day jobs.
RNLI Media contacts:
Andrew Limond, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Troon Lifeboat Station, 01292 314414 [email protected]
Gemma McDonald, RNLI Regional Media Manager for Scotland, 01738 642956, 07826 900639, [email protected]
Martin Macnamara, RNLI Regional Media Officer for Scotland, 01738 642986, 07920 365929, [email protected]
RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789
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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