Busy bank holiday period for Arbroath RNLI
Arbroath RNLI volunteers have had a busy week leading into the recent bank holiday weekend, launching the charity’s lifeboats on five occasions over four days.
Wednesday (27 April) saw both the All Weather (ALB) and Inshore (ILB) lifeboats launch to host the RNLI’s Operational Maritime Standards team for a bi-annual evaluation exercise.
Next day, Thursday (28 April), the crew’s pagers sounded to reports that a dog had fallen from the local cliffs. Thankfully, the lucky pooch was swiftly located and crew member on board the ILB was able to swim through a narrow gully to the rocks where the dog had climbed out of the water, before bringing her safely back to the lifeboat. Cocker spaniel ‘Skye’ was then transported back to the lifeboat station to be reunited with her owner.
On Friday (29 April) a local fishing vessel reported to the coastguard that they observed 3 persons cut off by the tide, on rocks at the north end of Carlingheugh bay. Both the station’s lifeboats responded and made best speed to the scene. Once they arrived it was found those involved had managed to clamber over the rocks and make their way back to safety.
Saturday (30 April) was a particularly busy day, in which volunteers conducted a routine weekly training exercise in the morning, before the pagers sounded once again at 3.35pm to reports of another dog having fallen from the cliffs. It was also reported that three people who had been coasteering had entered the water to assist the dog, with the owner also making their way down the cliffs.
Both boats arrived on scene and following an assessment of the situation, it was deemed the safest course of action would be for the ILB to extract the four people from the base of the cliffs out to the ALB for transfer back to the harbour. The ILB transported the dog back to the lifeboat station, however sadly on this occasion, the dog didn’t survive the injuries from the fall.
Sam Clow, station Coxswain/Mechanic, said – ‘Both dog owners from this week’s callouts stated their dogs were very well behaved and were regulars up along the Arbroath cliffs. This just goes to show how easy it is to get caught out and the RNLI would always strongly urge dog owners to keep their dogs on a lead around cliff paths to stop these tragic accidents happening. The thoughts of Arbroath RNLI are with the dog owners of Saturdays callout.’
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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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.