Margate RNLI rescues father and daughter on paddleboards
Margate RNLI has rescued a father and his daughter who were struggling to return to shore in strong tidal conditions off the north Kent coast.
UK Coastguard was contacted in the afternoon on Wednesday 31 March by a member of the public whose husband and daughter were on stand-up paddleboards some distance offshore at St Mildred’s Bay, Westgate-on-Sea. They appeared to be having difficulties returning to the beach.
Margate’s RNLI inshore lifeboat was tasked to investigate and quickly located the pair, still on their paddleboards around half a mile offshore. They were taken on board the lifeboat and after checking they were otherwise unharmed were returned to shore and into the care of Margate Coastguard Rescue Team members and their waiting family.
Peter Barker, Lifeboat Press Officer, Margate RNLI said: ‘There are some useful safety messages from this call. The pair done the right thing by remaining with their boards rather than trying to swim back to shore but were being swept sewards by a strong ebb tide. People should be aware of the tidal conditions when using stand-up paddleboards and ideally have some means or raising the alarm such as a mobile phone in a watertight bag but remembering phone signals become unreliable when offshore.’
Notes to editors
- Margate lifeboat station has been operating since 1860. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to: https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/margate-lifeboat-station
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- RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
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