Barrow Lifeboats Busy on Mother’s Day

The first request for assistance was received from HM Coastguard in Holyhead at 11.18pm on Saturday evening. The Coastguard had received reports of red distress flares being seen off the coast at Morecambe and tasked the Barrow crew to assist the Morecambe lifeboat team in conducting a search.

The crew was paged and the all-weather lifeboat, Grace Dixon, was launched at midnight under the command of Coxswain, Shaun Charnley, along with a crew of seven. After a 40-minute sea passage, the lifeboat commenced a search off the Morecambe coast in challenging conditions with a large tide running and winds gusting up to Force 8. The Morecambe D-Class inshore lifeboat conducted a search further to the north. After an extensive search area was covered, and nothing found, the lifeboat teams were stood down by the Coastguard and returned to their respective stations. The Barrow lifeboat was back at the Barrow boathouse at 4.30am and recovered by the shore crew.

The second launch came this afternoon, at 1.16pm, when HM Coastguard requested an immediate launch of the Barrow inshore lifeboat, Raymond and Dorothy Billingham, following reports of a windsurfer in difficulty in the area around Roa Island and Foulney Island. It was reported by a member of the public that the windsurfer was waving and shouting for help. The lifeboat was launched with Saul Tomlin at the helm assisted by crew, Michael Armstrong and Fraser Livesey. It was established that the windsurfer had managed to reach Foulney Island but with the high spring tides the casualty was waiting for the tide to recede before he could get back to the Roa Island causeway.

There was some uncertainty as to whether there was a second windsurfer in difficulty and the Coastguard requested that the all-weather lifeboat be launched to undertake a wider search. In addition, resources from the Furness Coastguard Rescue Team and Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 936 were also deployed. The Grace Dixon was launched at 1.52pm with Coxswain, Jonny Long, in command along with a crew of five and commenced a search from the south end of Walney Island heading back towards Roa Island.

Meanwhile, the inshore lifeboat picked up the casualty from Foulney Island after he reported that he had taken on water and was suffering with cramp. The lifeboat took the casualty to the slipway at Roa Island Boat Club to await assessment by paramedics who had been called.

At 2.26pm, with nothing further found, the Coastguard stood down the remaining search teams. The lifeboats returned to the boathouse where they were washed down and made ready for the next launch.

The weather and visibility at the time of the incident this afternoon was good. The wind was north-westerly, Force 5 – 6. The high tide was at 12.52pm with a predicted height of 10.1 metres.

Chris Clouter, Barrow Lifeboat Press Officer, commented: ‘It has certainly been a busy Mothering Sunday for our crews and is a perfect demonstration of how our volunteers are there when you need them, day or night and all year round. We are grateful to the member of the public that raised the alarm leading to this afternoon’s call-out.’

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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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