Stuck between high cliffs and high seasFowey Lifeboats launched no fewer than 73 times last year - but few shouts were as dramatic as the one that led to the rescue of a family stranded on a nearby beach, fearing for their lives A camping trip to Silvermine Beach in St Austell Bay went badly wrong on the evening of Sunday 24 August 2003 when three adults and four children were trapped between cliffs and a rising tide breaking on the shore. The group had decided to camp at the small beach for the evening after a day of pleasant weather and were dropped off there by the eighth member of the party, who then went fishing in his boat.

Wind speeds had picked up by the evening though, and the sea became so rough that, when the fishing boat returned in the early hours of the morning, she could not get close enough to the beach to pick up the campers. They became seriously frightened that they would be washed away.

The small fishing boat anchored further east in the bay at Polkerris and alerted Brixham Coastguard. At 4.30am, Fowey lifeboat crew was paged and Senior Helmsman Marcus Lewis was one of the first to the station.

He remembers: 'It was a black night and the wind was rattling the windows when the pagers went off.' Heading into the dark Within eight minutes Olive Herbert, the Fowey D class inshore lifeboat (ILB), was launched with Marcus at the helm along with Crew Member James (jimmy) Hoddinott and Probationer Matthew Jane.

At the same time, the all weather Trent class lifeboat Maurice and Joyce Hardy also set off, commanded by Coxswain Keith Stuart and seven crew members. The two boats soon separated, the Trent class heading towards Polkerris to get more information from the man who had raised the alarm, while the inshore lifeboat headed across the darkness of St Austell Bay for Silvermine Beach.

Marcus said: 'I am fairly comfortable with the ILB in those conditions, but I would rather it was daylight. We knew what the beach was like as we have exercised there in the past. It was probably the worst conditions I have anchored in though.' When the ILB was about half a mile from the beach, a white light from a torch could be seen, and Marcus was sure it was the casualties. He knew that the tide was unlikely to advance much further, but there was only 3-4m of beach left and there was a real danger that the people on the beach would risk serious injury trying to climb the cliffs to get to safety.

Battling through the waves After Matthew had dropped anchor, the ILB swung round towards the beach and Jimmy offered to go ashore and assess the situation. Climbing overboard and struggling with the breaking waves, he managed to take ashore some lifejackets and the hand-held VHF radio.

'Jimmy grew up on the water, dinghy sailing, water skiing, kite surfing and so on.

He's a real terrier,' said Marcus. 'He went tosee what was happening and told us by radio that the people were cold, wet and extremely anxious, and needed to be taken off the beach.'The ILB then moved in towards the beach for its first attempt to collect some of the stranded group. As well as facing rough conditions with large waves, Marcus had to be mindful of a large rock jutting out of the water on the port side.

As they tried to get to the boat, Jimmy and the woman he was helping through the surf were hit by a large wave, which knocked them both over. But, determined to go on, Jimmy managed to get her onto the boat and then followed with her three-year-old son.

By this time Keith and his crew aboard the Trent class had arrived nearby and illuminated the scene with their onboard searchlight. Marcus decided the casualties should be put aboard the larger boat without delay and he weighed anchor. The woman and child were transferred safely to the Trent class, which was anchored about 50m offshore, and the Olive Herbert was taken towards the beach again.

This time there were problems getting the anchor to hold, but Matthew Jane's persistence won through. On his third attempt the anchor held and the ILB ventured into the surf again. With the swell driving the propeller against the sand, the engine stalled several times, but restarted again on each occasion as Marcus drew as close to the beach as possible.

A team effort When he saw Marcus was ready, Jimmy brought out the first of three young girls, without incident. But just after the second girl had been pulled aboard a large wave loomed over them. 'I shouted for them to hold tight,' said Marcus. 'It broke over us and covered the poor girls. I said to them "this is better than Alton Towers, isn't it?"' After the third girl was helped aboard Jimmy returned to the beach and the girls were transferred to the Trent class.

To speed up the recovery of the two remaining adults, it was decided to make the ILB anchor line fast to the stern bollard of the Trent - that would prevent time being taken up trying to drop anchor amid the waves.

Veering towards the beach once more, this time there were no problems and the two remaining adult casualties and Jimmy were brought safely aboard. The casualties were transferred to the Trent class and the relieved group was taken to a waiting ambulance at Chartestown. Aside from suffering from the cold and shock, the rescued people were in good health. The lifeboats headed for home, now in daylight. Both lifeboats were back on station, refuelled and ready for service by 6.50am.

Praise for the crew In recognition of the skills used in the rescue effort, Marcus Lewis receives a framed letter of thanks signed by RNLI Chairman Peter Nicholson, while Crew Members James Hoddinott and Matthew Jane receive letters of appreciation from Chief Executive Andrew Freemantle. Marcus said: 'Afterwards, I thought "thank God that's over." Keith and the crew said "well done" to me. The main thing was that the people were off the beach and onto dry land. It is nice to be recognised though.' The recognition was also a welcome surprise for Matthew, who, as a probationer, was on his first major rescue. He said: 'It was my first big shout and it is very nice to get a letter. I was in good hands though - Marcus did a fantastic job, and so did Jimmy. I remember the large waves hitting Jimmy - he is not a tall man but he did very well.' Marcus added: The ILB did exactly what it was designed to do, and did it brilliantly, but it was all the crew on both boats that made the rescue possible.1 Mr Nicholson wrote in his letter to Marcus: 'You demonstrated first-class seamanship and leadership skills in carrying out this difficult service in surf conditions.

The teamwork and cooperation exhibited by our crew and between the two lifeboats reflects well on all at Fowey lifeboat station.' The rescued family sent a card of thanks and a donation to the Fowey crew.THE INSHORE LIFEBOAT D class Olive Herbert D-526 Funding: Olive Herbert Charitable Trust THE CREW Helmsman Marcus Lewis, James Hoddinott, Matthew Jane THE ALL WEATHER LIFEBOAT Trent class lifeboat ON-1222 (14-18) Maurice and Joyce Hardy Funding: Bequest of Maurice C Hardy THE CREW Coxswain: Keith Stuart Crew Members: John Barker, Nick Beard, Wayne Farr, Paul Gamble, Ronnie Johnson, Jonathan Pritchard, Paul Thomas FOWEY LIFEBOAT STATION Established: 1859 Previous RNLI Medals: Six Silver and one Bronze THE CASUALTIES Three adults and four children THE CONDITIONS Weather: Overcast Visibility: Dark Wind: Force 4-5 Sea state: Rough, 1-2m swell.