RNLI Wells lifeboat called to help drifting paddleboarders
Wells volunteer lifeboat crew were tasked by HM Coastguard at 5.04pm on 3 September to go to the assistance of two people on a paddleboard who were being swept out to sea between Wells Beach and Scolt Head Island.
The inshore lifeboat launched with a crew of three on board in Holkham Bay at almost low tide at 5.28pm and proceeded towards the location given by the informant on the beach.
In the meantime, a third person had entered the water with the intention to swim out to the two people on the paddleboard and assist them back to the shore.
The inshore lifeboat crew arrived on scene at 5.35pm. They learned that the party had managed to reach the beach, where they were safe and well and with the local Coastguard.
At 5.40pm, with everyone accounted for and safely ashore, the volunteer lifeboat crew were stood down. They returned to the low water recovery site in Holkham Bay.
The inshore lifeboat arrived back at the station at 6.08pm and rehoused in the boathouse. It was sanitised, refuelled, and was ready again for service at 6.30pm.
Lifeboat Operations Manager, Chris Hardy, said ‘we are pleased that there was a happy outcome from today’s event as it could so easily have been very different. The tidal currents around our coastline are extremely strong and the paddleboarders could have been swept out to sea, especially with an offshore wind. It is safer to paddleboard in the creeks where the land is always near or stay very close to the water’s edge if paddleboarding from the beach.’
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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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