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Whitstable RNLI assist paddle boarder

Lifeboats News Release

The Whitstable Atlantic 85 lifeboat Lewisco was diverted from an exercise on Friday afternoon following a request from Dover Coastguard who had received a report from the National Coastwatch Institution to a paddleboarder in need of assistance off Tankerton on Friday afternoon.

Whitstable lifeboat comes alongside the paddleboarder in need of assistance off Tankerton on Friday afternoon.

RNLI Whitstable

Whitstable lifeboat comes alongside the paddleboarder in need of assistance off Tankerton on Friday afternoon.
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The lifeboat crew located the female casualty 300-metres north East of the National Coastwatch Institute lookout hut in an exhausted but otherwise well condition and returned her to the shore at Tankerton and into the care of a friend.

The lifeboat then continued with its exercise but was again diverted after a report from the National Coastwatch at Tankerton of a kayak possibly in need of help North East from the NCI station.

The lifeboat located the craft and its occupant who was not in any need of assistance and happy to make his own way ashore.

This was the 9th call of the year for the Whitstable lifeboat.

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

  • Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
    07741 012004/ [email protected]

  • Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer London/southeast/east Tel: 0207 6207416 Mob: (07785) 296252 [email protected]

  • For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789


Whitstable lifeboat comes alongside the paddleboarder in need of assistance off Tankerton on Friday afternoon.

RNLI Whitstable

Whitstable lifeboat comes alongside the paddleboarder in need of assistance off Tankerton on Friday afternoon.
Download image
Whitstable lifeboat comes alongside the paddleboarder in need of assistance off Tankerton on Friday afternoon.

RNLI Whitstable

Whitstable lifeboat comes alongside the paddleboarder in need of assistance off Tankerton on Friday afternoon.
Download image

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.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.

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