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Hunstanton RNLI lifeboat launched to grounded craft

Lifeboats News Release

A Norfolk volunteer lifeboat crew was launched to assist a pleasure craft which had run aground.

RNLI/Chris Bishop

Hunstanton RNLI lifeboat Spirit of West Norfolk
HM Coastguard requested the volunteer crew from Hunstanton to locate and assist a 32ft vessel with two people on board, after it grounded on a sandbank at the entrance to the harbour at Brancaster.

Lifeboat Spirit of West Norfolk was launched after the call came in just before 11pm on Wednesday, July 26.

The lifeboat and her four-strong crew arrived on the scene in 25 minutes and helped the crew re-float the grounded vessel.

They then towed the boat into Brancaster Harbour, and helped her crew to secure her to a mooring buoy.

The two people on board were then taken off the vessel and brought ashore, where they were handed over to the coastguard.

Spirit of West Norfolk then returned to station, arriving around 3.30am, where she was cleaned down and made ready for service.

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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