Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat assists Paddleboarder
The Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat Lewisco was launched at 2.14pm on Friday to a report of a female paddleboarder in difficulties off Seasalter.
Lifeboat Helmsman Rob Judge said 'The alarm had been raised by her husband on the beach when she was unable to make it back to the shore against the wind and the tide. We arrived at the scene and located the casualty a 1/2-mile east of the Seasalter Sailing Club. She was brought onboard the lifeboat and we landed her and the paddleboard ashore at the lifeboat station where she was met by the Herne Bay Coastguard Unit and her husband. She did not require any medical attention'.
'Our advice to the users of paddleboards and small waterborne craft is to always carry either a mobile phone or small VHF radio as a method of raising the alarm with the coastguard in the event of distress and people should always be aware of wind and tide when venturing out on the water and to wear buoyancy aids at all times'.
This was the 8th call of the year for the Whitstable Lifeboat and crewmembers took all the necessary precautions in force during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Notes 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 Miss 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.
RNLI media contacts
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Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
07741 012004/ [email protected]
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Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer London/southeast/east Tel: 0207 6207416 Mob: (07786) 668825 [email protected]
For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 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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