Whitstable RNLI in search for drifting windsurfing board

In the process of the search the crew also found themselves involved in something of a maritime 'litter pick', Helm Ruth Oliver explained “We commenced an extensive search during which various large items of debris was found and recovered to the lifeboat and eventually the windsurfing board was located to the North of the Kentish Flats Wind farm having drifted towards Sheppey and this was also brought onto the lifeboat”.

“Whilst returning to station we were further tasked by Dover Coastguard to several reports of a small yacht drifting off Seasalter. We located the 21-foot craft which was unoccupied and with the help of the Herne Bay Mobile Coastguard Team placed the yacht on a mooring off the beach before returning to station with our collection of debris and the surf board having been at sea for around 4-hours”.

The windsurfing board was found to be in a derelict condition and possibly adrift for some time. There were no reports of a missing person.

This was the 6^th call of the year for the volunteer crews at Whitstable RNLI.

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

• Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
  07741 012004/ [email protected]

• Julie Rainey - Regional Communications Lead : 07827 358256

• Hatti Mellor - Regional Communications Manager :07724 801305

For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

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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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