Early morning call out for Withernsea volunteers and newly qualified Helmsman
Shortly before 2am on Tuesday 30 July, Withernsea RNLI were tasked as reports came in of a person in the water at the North end of Withernsea. On route to the location given it was confirmed the person was missing and not confirmed as in the water.
The inshore lifeboat with three crew were asked to search from the South of Withernsea up to the North of Withernsea. When reaching the North end of Withernsea the Coastguard helicopter joined the search alongside the lifeboat, Humberside Police and Withernsea Coastguard.
An hour into the search, a report of a person in the water at Pier Towers was confirmed. All units made their way there. On arrival of the lifeboat, Withernsea Coastguard had retrieved the person from the water. This was confirmed as being a second casualty and not the person the crew were initially tasked to search for.
The crew were asked to resume their search back down to the South of Withernsea, whilst Withernsea Coastguard dealt with the retrieved casualty.
After one hour and 50 minutes at sea, the volunteer crew were stood down as the person had been found elsewhere.
Withernsea station's newly qualified Helmsman Steve Roebuck was on the call out and commented: 'I had reservations about my first tasking as a new Helm, but once the pager went off, I forgot the nerves and everything I had trained for and learnt was all fresh in my head and I knew what I had to do for the task at hand.’
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