
Two men rescued by the Sheerness RNLI all-weather Lifeboat.
The Sheerness all-weather lifeboat launched twice over the weekend of the 27 and 28 July. The first call was to a tiny inflatable with two men onboard that was drifting 12 miles out from Sheerness. The second call was to a small yacht that was taking on water off the Isle of Grain.
The volunteer crew of the Sheerness RNLI all-weather lifeboat ‘Judith Copping Joyce’ were called by the UK Coastguard at 7.30pm on Saturday 27 July to reports of a rubber dinghy, with two men onboard, that was in difficulties off the Redsands Towers.
Launching at 7.20pm with a crew of six the lifeboat proceeded at best speed to the location given, which is some 12 nautical miles from Sheerness.
The lifeboat arrived at the Redsands at 8.00pm and reported that there was no sign of the casualty craft. An update from the Coastguard reported that the casualty was now drifting towards the Kentish Flats wind farm complex and that the men in the dinghy were in contact via a poor mobile phone connection.
With all crew on deck and scanning the area a further update reported that the casualty was now inside the wind farm area and drifting quickly on the ebb tide and NW breeze.
The crew finally spotted a tiny speck in the distance and quickly established that this was the casualty. Having pulled alongside they took both men and their tiny inflatable onboard at 8. 22pm.They were passed into the care of the Sheppey Coastguard Rescue Team, who were waiting at the Lifeboat Station in Sheerness Docks at 9.05pm.
The men, both in their mid-twenties, had set off from the Warden Bay area of Sheppey in their tiny and overloaded craft propelled only by a battery powered outboard which had quickly gone flat. They had set off with the aim of climbing onto one of the towers, and even had a ladder and fishing gear onboard with them.
Sheerness RNLI Lifeboat Coxswain Paul Jarvis said: ‘the crew could not believe what they were seeing when we finally located the two men. Their craft was totally not suitable for the open sea and they were extremely lucky that their ‘adventure’ had not ended in tragedy before we found them. They were both wearing buoyancy aids and had mobile phones and did not seem aware of the danger they had put themselves in. Mobile phone signals are notoriously bad at sea and life jackets should be worn when going to sea and are preferable to buoyancy aids which should only be used in close to shore or harbour situations. If we had not found them when we did the whole situation would have escalated with the onset of darkness and changing sea conditions and the outcome would most likely have not been good.’
The all-weather lifeboat was called again by the UK Coastguard on Sunday 28 July to assist a small sailing craft, with one man onboard, that was taking on water and at anchor off Grain Edge. The lifeboat launched at 3.20pm with a crew of six and located the casualty within minutes. A tow was established and the casualty was secured and safe in Queenborough Harbour at 3.45pm.
The RNLI gives information on all aspects of sea safety and how to keep safe when going out on the water. Details are freely available on the RNLI website at RNLI.org.uk
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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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