Barrow RNLI Lifeboat Launched to Person in the Water
Volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow Lifeboat Station launched their inshore lifeboat this afternoon following reports of a person in the water at Roosecote.
The call for assistance came through from the regional HM Coastguard base in Holyhead at 5-02pm. The Coastguard requested the lifeboat launch to assist in the rescue of a kayaker who was reportedly in the water and clinging to his craft off the shoreline at Roosecote.
The crew was paged for the second time in nine hours and the Barrow inshore lifeboat, ‘Vision of Tamworth’, was launched at 5-15pm with Andy Baxter at the helm assisted by Shaun Charnley and Mike Harris.
Whilst the lifeboat was making its way to the scene, the team was advised that the kayaker had managed to reach the shore and was safe and well. His inflatable kayak, however, had drifted out to sea in the freshening breeze. The Coastguard requested the lifeboat attempt to retrieve the kayak and the crew managed to locate and recover it successfully. In the space of just thirty minutes, the kayak had been blown some two miles out to sea.
With the casualty safe, the lifeboat returned to the Boathouse at 6-05pm where it was rehoused by the waiting shore crew and made ready for the next launch.
Furness Coastguard and Ulverston Inshore Rescue were also in attendance.
The weather at the time of the incident was fine and the wind was north-westerly, Force 4. High water had passed at 4-48pm with a height of 8.1 metres.
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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