Poole Lifeboat was requested to launch by HM Coastguard at 3:30pm (Monday August 29) to a report that two people were in difficulty off Lake Pier. As the lifeboat volunteers were on route further information came through that a paddleboarder had sustained a possible broken ankle.
Two crew members were placed ashore to do a casualty care assessment and offer pain relief. Poole Coastguard Rescue Team were also tasked and assisted the lifeboat crew in transferring the casualty on her board further up the beach. Blankets were administered to keep the casualty warm and pain relief was administered whilst awaiting an ambulance.
Poole Lifeboat was then re-tasked to a medical incident in Studland Bay along with the D class lifeboat - no further details available on this call.
The lifeboats returned to station refuelled and were made ready for service just after 8pm
then the pager rang out again.
The D class was requested to launch at 8.20pm to assist a 12-metre dinghy with 2 people onboard drifting off Hamworthy Park, the dinghy had encountered engine problems and the vessel had been trying for some time to get back to Rockley, but their engine kept cutting out and they had made no headway, with light fading they asked for assistance.
The lifeboat crew requested that the vessel flash their lights so that the lifeboat could locate their position. Once on scene the crew checked that the people were okay, and a towline was attached. The lifeboat brought the vessel back to Rockley and when safely alongside the lifeboat returned to station, refuelled, and made ready for service by 10pm.
The lifeboat was tasked again at 9.45am (Tuesday August 29) to a report of ‘Mayday’ from a Man Overboard (MOB) Beacon, activated near the harbour entrance.
MOB beacons are designed to provide signals to local vessels to assist recovery of a person in the water, alerts broadcast via VHF DSC, that triggers an alarm on nearby VHF radios. As the lifeboat crew mustered and headed off down the harbour news came in over the radio, that it was false alarm due to faulty equipment, so the Lifeboat was stood down with thanks and returned to station.
The lifeboat was made ready for service by 10.30am.
A busy 24hrs for the volunteers out on the water and the support crew back at the station, this latest flurry of shouts takes the total for the Poole Lifeboat volunteers to 113 call outs.
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.
