Five Rescued from Rising Tide

On Saturday 22nd March, St Agnes RNLI lifeboat was tasked with an immediate launch to a group of casualties trapped by the incoming tide between Porthtowan and Chapel Porth. The volunteer lifeboat crew was paged at 3.59pm and the D-class lifeboat was launched within minutes.

Arriving on scene the crew quickly spotted the casualties who had climbed onto some rocks to escape the sea. Two volunteer crew members were dropped ashore to assist the group while the third held the boat fast in difficult surf conditions. With the tide rising and surging due to the surf conditions, the decision was made to move the group along the shoreline to a safer location. St Agnes Coastguard Cliff Rescue team was also in attendance on the cliff top above. The RNLI helm who was ashore with the casualties decided that the shore break was too big to attempt an extraction by boat and the Coastguard search and rescue helicopter was requested. On arrival and landing of the helicopter, the two crew members shielded the casualties from the aircraft’s downdraft before helping them aboard.

With the casualties safely extracted the crew returned to the D-class lifeboat and made their way back out to sea through heavy surf. They were joined by the All Weather Lifeboat (ALB) from St. Ives who were standing by in case of extraction by boat. The Shannon Class then took the lead on passage back to Trevaunance Cove, giving the much smaller D-Class a smoother ride home before being tasked to another rescue by HM Coastguard in Falmouth.

With five people successfully rescued, helm Tom Forehead commented,

“Obviously we are very happy that everyone was safe. The adults in the group did the right thing by calling 999 and asking for the Coastguard. The children were great. It’s pretty full on when that helicopter lands up and blasts sand everywhere but they did really well.”

For advice on how to safe and understand the risks posed by the tidal and weather conditions, visit https://rnli.org/safety/know-the-risks/tides