
Whitstable RNLI assist Motor Cruiser
A 7-metre motor cruiser with a single male occupant onboard had to be towed to safety by the Whitstable RNLI lifeboat after going aground at Warden Point, Isle of Sheppey on Wednesday afternoon.
As lifeboat crewmember Dave Parry was preparing to go ashore to investigate the situation the solitary occupant appeared at the cabin door and confirmed he required assistance as his craft had lost its outboard motor.
With Dave Parry now onboard the casualty vessel to assist a tow was passed to the lifeboat which then extracted the stricken cruiser from the shoreline and commenced a tow around the South Eastern side of Sheppey to Hollowshore at the entrance to Oare Creek, Faversham.
On arrival at Hollowshore the lifeboat and motor cruiser were met by the coastguard team who assisted with mooring the casualty craft and the lifeboat was released from the incident to return to station.
Lifeboat Helmsman Ben Crosswell said “thanks must go to the ‘first informant’ onshore who alerted the coastguard to the vessels plight and once we had assessed the crafts situation it was a straightforward job to tow the vessel to the nearest safe berth”.
Joining Helm Ben Crosswell and fellow crewmembers Dave Parry and Ollie Myhill was trainee crewmember Will Smith who joined the station a year or so ago after moving to Whitstable from Birmingham. “Although I have been out on the boat ‘on exercise’ many times this was my first operational call’ and it was really good to be with such a cracking’ good crew”.
“I have always been interested in the work of the RNLI but there was not much call for their services in Birmingham so when I moved to Whitstable I thought I would give it ago, I think I’m the first ‘Brummie’ to go to sea in the Whitstable lifeboat!
This was the 4th call of the year for the Whitstable volunteer lifeboat crew.
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
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Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
07741 012004/ [email protected]
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Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer London/southeast/east Tel: 0207 6207416 Mob: (07785) 296252 [email protected]
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For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789
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
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