
Three calls for Whitstable RNLI
There have three calls on the Whitstable RNLI lifeboat over the weekend.
The lifeboat crew located the casualty craft and the three occupants brought onboard following which, with their craft in tow alongside they were landed ashore on the sea wall on the south side of the Swale to make their own way on foot back to the Swale Marina. Their craft which has suffered engine failure was to be retrieved the following day.
On Saturday afternoon at 3.30pm whilst on exercise off Herne Bay, the lifeboat was asked to respond following a 999 call reporting two persons in the water off Whitstable Harbour. However the lifeboat was ‘stood down’ when the call was reported as a malicious hoax.
On Sunday afternoon the lifeboat was launched after a report of two swimmers possibly in difficulties near Herne Bay Pier.
The lifeboat crew located the pair off the beach in the process of doing a pier to pier swim and not in any difficulty and following confirmation from the informant that they were those seen, the call was put down to a false alarm with good intent.
Following this call the lifeboat proceed on exercise.
There have now been 27-calls so far this year on the volunteer crews at Whitstable RNLI
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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.
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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.
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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.
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RNLI media contacts
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Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
07741 012004/ [email protected] -
Julie Rainey - Regional Communications Lead : 07827 358256
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Hatti Mellor - Regional Communications Manager :07724 801305
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.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
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.