Busy Saturday for Swanage lifeboats launching to two rescues

The crew of the yacht had issued a 'Mayday' distress call and required immediate assistance. The yacht's last known position was just to the West of St Albans Head so the lifeboat launched and made best speed towards the casualty.

The yacht was quickly located and two crew members trained in casualty care were put aboard to assess the yachtsman's injury. The man was in considerable pain as he had lost part of one of his fingers and severely damaged two more. He was given entonox for the pain and the wound was cleaned and dressed.

As this was being done slow progress was still being made towards Swanage and an ambulance was requested to meet the casualty at the lifeboat station. Rather than risk a transfer at sea the casualty was left on his boat until they were in the calm waters of Swanage Bay were he could be safely brought aboard the lifeboat, taken ashore then handed to ambulance paramedics when they arrived about 30 minutes later.

Less than three hours after the earlier launch both lifeboats were tasked to Kimmeridge to assist a windsurfer in difficulties. The UK Coastguard had received a 999 call from a member of the public who had reported that a windsurfer was in difficulties to the East of Kimmeridge Bay.

Swanage's all-weather lifeboat (ALB) was just about to enter Poole Harbour where they were planning on swapping to a relief lifeboat for a few days to enable some maintenance to be completed on our lifeboat when the crew could hear talk of an incident unfolding at Kimmeridge. The UK Coastguard confirmed that they would like both Swanage lifeboats to attend so the ALB quickly turned back towards Swanage and the inshore lifeboat (ILB) was paged to launch.

In the choppy conditions the ALB was first to arrive on scene and started searching for the windsurfer. With nothing found initially they made slow progress to the West. A person was spotted at the base of the cliff but the lifeboat wasn't able to get close enough to positively identify them. Fortunately the ILB was now only a few minutes away so they were directed towards the shoreline to have a chat with the person. They were found to be fishing and didn't need any assistance. They were able to confirm that a windsurfer had been in difficulty earlier but he thought that they had gone ashore further West. Kimmeridge Coastguard were making enquiries ashore and a little while later it was confirmed that the casualty was safely ashore. With the situation resolved both boats were released to return to Swanage.

1st callout- ALB Crew: (Coxn) Dave Turnbull, Steve Williams, Gavin Steeden, Roydon Woodford, Phil Palmer, Sam Aggas

2nd callout- ALB Crew: (Coxn) Dave Turnbull, Gavin Steeden, Roydon Woodford, Duncan Youngs, Sam Aggas, Felix Williams

ILB Crew: (Helm) Darren Tomes, Alice Haw, Ant Hole

Shore Crew: (Winchman) Phil Palmer

Notes to Editors

• Photograph of Swanage all-weather lifeboat alongside the yacht with the casualty onboard. Credit RNLI.

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For more information please telephone Becky Mack, Swanage RNLI Volunteer Press Officer on 07812 558487 or at [email protected]

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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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