RescUe Here is just a handful of incidents from around the uK and Roi to give an insight into the thousands of lifeboat rescues carried out each year. see pages 20–27 for rescues marked and page 13 for a roundup of lifeguard activity. Insight 1 ISLAnD ReSCUe In GALe COnDITIOnS Kinghorn’s inshore lifeboat Frederick Robertson battled gale force winds and 4m seas to rescue four stranded tourists from an island on 6 may.

a crew member clambered ashore and guided the two men and two women to a rocky outcrop. the lifeboat drew in close and the tourists jumped, one by one, onto the bow, with the crew member’s help. Between each transfer, the Helmsman had to swiftly reverse the lifeboat from her rescue position to avoid being blown onto the rocks, before going back in to repeat the process. 2 AGROUnD On eASTBOURne BeACH Both eastbourne lifeboats went to the aid of an 11m wooden boat that had run aground on the beach near splash Point on 30 may. the lone sailor had dislocated his thumb and was struggling with the rigging. two crew members from the small D class went aboard, while the injured man was taken off for his safety. the mersey class lifeboat then set up a tow and was able to pull the sailing boat clear when a large wave refl oated her. the man returned to his craft and sailed her into sovereign Harbour under the escort of the lifeboats. His injury was treated by waiting paramedics. 3 DRIFTInG YACHT BROUGHT In Helvick Head’s B class lifeboat Alice and Charles went to the aid of a yacht reported to be drifting 3½ miles off mine Head, County Waterford, on 14 June. the yacht was suffering engine failure and a broken mast. the crew of three had erected a makeshift replacement, but were in danger of running aground in the force 4 winds. the lifeboat volunteers managed to establish a tow and brought the yacht safely into harbour. 4 PLIGHT OF THe PORTHCAwL PORPOISe On 8 July, Porthcawl crew were out on exercise when they were tasked to help a young porpoise in diffi culty in shallow water. the atlantic 75 Giles towed the animal, which had a cut to its face, out into deeper seas, but not before it spat water into a crew member’s face! the porpoise got stranded briefl y on rocks, but was last seen swimming out to sea. 5 YACHTSMAn ReSCUeD FROM THICK FOG sunderland and tynemouth lifeboats worked together to rescue a lone yachtsman whose steering had failed in thick fog on 11 June. sunderland’s atlantic 85 located the casualty, Shadowplay, using its state-of-the-art VHF radio direction fi nding equipment. the larger severn class from tynemouth then towed Shadowplay to her original destination of north shields. 6 HeCTIC DAY FOR ST HeLIeR CRew On a wild day in the english Channel, with force 7–8 winds, st Helier’s all-weather lifeboat Alexander Coutanche was in great demand. monday 25 June saw her crew towing in a 10m French yacht that had lost its steering, before being called out to a merchant ship with engine failure that was riding at anchor in the rough seas.

On her return passage, the lifeboat came across another yacht, whose crew were struggling in the conditions, and escorted her to harbour. PAGe tItLe RescUe FIVe ALIVe two miles from land, a group of kayakers was at the mercy of gale force offshore winds. How could they summon help and how long could they stay afloat? mairéad Dwane reports tHe DetAIL insHORe LiFeBOat B-789 Sure and Steadfast On station: 2002 Funding: Funded by the Boys’ Brigade Crew: Helmsman scott Wiltshire, (37, marine construction superintendent), matthew Preston, (28, marine construction coxswain) stuart Henderson, (25, marine construction deckhand) aLL-WeatHeR LiFeBOat seVeRn CLass On-1202 (17-03) Albert Brown – the fi rst severn class lifeboat to be placed on operational service On station: 1996 Funding: Bequest from the late Victoria maisie Brown in memory of her late husband Crew: Full-time Coxswain Paul smith (46) second Coxswain John teatheredge (49, pilot boat coxswain), Brendon shaw (32, design engineer), Glen Davis (41, relief pilot boat coxswain), simon Benham (32, printer), stuart Vincent (31, motor technician), Deputy mechanic stephen amner (36, electrical mechanical engineer), elliot Kemp (35, police offi cer) a distressed father on the shoreline made the call that would save his son’s life. it was 18 march and he could see the boy and fellow canoe club members getting into diffi culty just outside the estuary of the River Deben, suffolk. in response, thames Coastguard requested the help of Harwich’s inshore lifeboat, Sure and Steadfast.

she would be best designed to search along the surf line but the conditions were more than challenging. With scott Wiltshire at the helm, she launched at 12.32pm.

seeing the north-westerly winds averaging force 9 and whipping up the sea, full-time Coxswain Paul smith (pictured) decided to launch the severn class all-weather lifeboat too: ‘after initial disbelief that children were out in kayaks under the instruction of adults in such winds, my thoughts quickly reverted to the requirements of the service, and i decided to launch Albert Brown to support Sure and Steadfast and assist in the search and casualty handling.

‘the weather was well within the capability of the severn class, but my concern was for the safety of the inshore lifeboat crew. the height of the severn is also an asset when searching for people in the water in big seas.’ Just 10 minutes after launching, in seas up to 4m high, Sure and Steadfast found two people in the water, a man aged 63 and a boy aged 12, clinging onto their kayaks. they had gone out to sea for adventure training – without fl ares, radios or checking the weather forecast. they were hauled aboard.

two more kayakers were spotted further inshore. scott set off towards them, while his crew assessed the fi rst casualties. they were worried about the 63-year-old, who was responsive but clearly in need of medical attention.

scott remembers: ‘With one semi-conscious hypothermic casualty onboard, the child made it known to us that his brother was still missing.

this required some quick thinking and diffi cult decision making.’ He fi nally decided to transfer the pair to the all-weather lifeboat, from which they could be airlifted to hospital. He radioed the Coastguard to request helicopter assistance and then coordinated the manoeuvre with Paul.

some of Albert Brown’s crew members warmed up the two patients in the slightly more comfortable conditions below deck, while others set about picking up the second pair of survivors, a man aged 51 and a 14-year-old boy, who were in much better shape. the search was now on for the one remaining member of the group.

Sure and Steadfast began scouring the shallow waters of the surf line about 200m from the shore. the third child was soon spotted. He had been separated from his kayak, and was brought aboard before also being transferred to Albert Brown. all fi ve kayakers were now onboard the all-weather lifeboat, and it was confi rmed that the whole group had been accounted for.

the RaF’s rescue helicopter from Wattisham airfi eld was now overhead, and the fi rst two casualties to be plucked from the water were winched aboard – no mean feat in the challenging conditions. the others stayed onboard Albert Brown, ‘shocked, frightened and understandably concerned for their colleagues and themselves’, according to Paul.

an ambulance was waiting as they arrived back at the lifeboat station, just an hour after launching. the group’s kayaks were also kindly brought ashore on the all-weather lifeboat.

at stages during the rescue, winds of storm force 10 were recorded. Harwich Lifeboat Press Offi cer Keith Churchman comments: ‘these kayaks were only about 1m long and really meant for boating lakes, so we are relieved there was a happy ending.’ in recognition of their skill, determination, sound decision-making, hard work and foresight, the Coxswain and volunteers involved were formally thanked by the RnLi’s Chief executive and Operations Director.

in his own letter of thanks, one survivor wrote: ‘after being in the sea for 45 minutes, cold and exhausted, you start to wonder if you can hold on much longer. so you can imagine the feeling of relief when i saw the lifeboat speeding towards us.’ ‘after being in the sea for 45 minutes, cold and exhausted, you start to wonder if you can hold on much longer.’ OUT In A FLASH When three children were suddenly torn out of their depth by a rip current at a Devon beach, they were in danger of being thrown onto rocks – or worse Rip currents are the main surf hazard for beach goers – they can sweep swimmers from shallow water out to sea and prevent them from swimming back. For the informed observer, there are sometimes warning signs, such as murky brown water, surface foam extending beyond the surf line, and debris fl oating out to sea. But on 18 July at Bantham beach, south Devon, there was no warning when a fl ash rip developed at 4.30pm.

as its name suggests, a fl ash rip is quick and powerful. ‘We were keeping a watch on bathers when we suddenly saw three young children struggling in the water. they were out of their depth and being dragged towards the rocks in a rip current,’ says senior RnLi Lifeguard Liam Krige, who was on duty that day. He and his fellow lifeguard Cordell Venter immediately launched their inshore rescue boat (iRB).

as the lifeguards neared the scene, they realised the rocks were too close even for the iRB. ‘We would have put the children and the boat at risk if we’d hit the rocks,’ explains Liam. instead, Cordell jumped into the water and swam to the children. He helped to keep them afl oat and calm while Liam returned to shore, where he swapped the iRB for a rescue board.

Paddling back out, Liam pulled two of the children onto his board and took them to shore, skilfully avoiding the rip. Cordell swam back unaided with the third child. ‘Once back on shore Cordell stayed with the children – they were very distressed,’ remembers Liam.

By now, the rip current had begun to sweep more bathers out to sea and eight were in diffi culty. Liam launched the iRB again with Lifeguard Ben Howey and radioed his colleagues at the neighbouring sedgwell Cove for back up.

in two trips, Liam and Ben pulled six people aboard and returned them to the safety of the beach. two lifeguards from sedgwell Cove picked up the two remaining casualties. in 15 minutes, the lifeguards had rescued 11 people from the rip current. no one had suffered any injuries.

area Lifeguard manager Patrick Renauld praised Liam and the other lifeguards for their actions. ‘Lifeguards are trained to recognise and help anyone caught in a rip,’ says Patrick. ‘Luckily the lifeguards on duty were able to respond immediately and tragedy was avoided. it just shows the importance of swimming at a lifeguarded beach.’ PeRILoUs PLAY swept along by the powerfully ebbing tide, a 9-year-old girl’s survival depended on the reaction of her local lifeboat crew a powerful ebbing tide, a 9-year-old girl’s Jade Kerrison was playing with a friend at south Quay, Great Yarmouth in suffolk. it was 7 June 2007 and the sun was beginning to set. the pair were larking around when suddenly Jade fell into the River Yare. it was a 4m drop and water was surprisingly cold.

Her friend ran to tell Jade’s mother.

Caroline Kerrison recalls: ‘as i was running down to the quayside i was screaming: “no, Jade, no, Jade”. i thought she must have gone under and we would not fi nd her.’ But remarkably, Jade had resurfaced and caught hold of a lifebelt thrown to her by onlookers.

the little girl used all her strength to hang on to the lifebelt in what was a strong tidal current. Jade describes the experience: ‘i remember falling and started swimming.

When i went under, i grabbed hold of something. my hands slipped and i got pulled by the current until i managed to grab the lifebelt and then hold on to some stairs. i felt upset and very cold.’ Had she lost her grip, Jade would have been swept out into the path of a cargo ship. the growing crowd on the quayside could now do nothing but watch and wait.

it was then that the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston atlantic 75 lifeboat came to the rescue.

Lifeboat Helmsman Jade Kerrison was playing with a friend at South Quay, Great Yarmouth in Suffolk. It was 7 June 2007 and the sun was beginning to set. The pair were larking around when suddenly Jade fell into the River Yare. It was a 4m drop and surprisingly cold.

Her friend ran to tell Jade’s mother.

Caroline Kerrison recalls: ‘As I was running down to the quayside I was screaming: “No, Jade, no, Jade”. I thought she must have gone under and we would not fi nd her.’ But remarkably, Jade had resurfaced and caught hold of a lifebelt thrown to her by onlookers.

The little girl used all her strength to hang on to the lifebelt in what was a strong tidal current. Jade describes the experience: ‘I remember falling and started swimming. When I went under, I grabbed hold of something. My hands slipped and I got pulled by the current until I managed to grab the lifebelt and then hold on to some stairs. I felt upset and very cold.’ Had she lost her grip, Jade would have been swept out into the path of a cargo ship. The growing crowd on the quayside could now do nothing but watch and wait.

It was then that the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Kevin Bennington recalls: ‘We launched Seahorse IV in just 3-4 minutes after a call from the Coastguard at 9.09pm. Jade was only 1 mile from the station but, as she’s a small girl, she took some fi nding. We spotted her in the water very cold, in shock, with real fear on her face.’ For the crew it brought back awful memories of the search for Daniel entwistle in 2003. Jade was 500m or so from where 7-year-old Daniel is thought to have fallen to his death.

the extreme danger to Jade of the fast moving tide meant that Kevin could waste no time: he drove straight in and Crew members scott Kennington and andrew mason plucked the 9-year-old out of the water. the crowd above clapped and cheered the crew.

Getting Jade back up to the quayside would be tricky and time consuming, so Kevin decided to take her back to the station for urgent medical assistance. scott held the child tight to try to warm her up.

From the lifeboat station an ambulance transferred Jade to Gorleston’s James Paget university Hospital but she was later discharged. Kevin describes Jade as ‘very, very lucky’ to have survived both the strong ebb fl ow and temperature of the water.

Reliving the ordeal Jade’s mother is full of praise for the lifeboat crew who took only minutes to reach the scene. sitting cradling her daughter now safely at home again, Caroline says: ‘i could not believe how quickly the lifeboat got there. i want to thank the people who saved her.’ Atlantic 75 lifeboat came to the rescue.

Lifeboat Helmsman Kevin Bennington recalls: ‘We launched Seahorse IV in just 3–4 minutes after a call from the Coastguard at 9.09pm. Jade was only 1 mile from the station but, as she’s a small girl, she took some fi nding. We spotted her in the water, very cold, in shock, with real fear on her face.’ For the crew it brought back awful memories of the search for a little boy in 2003. Jade was 500m or so from where the 7-year-old is thought to have fallen to his death.

The extreme danger to Jade of the fastmoving tide meant that Kevin could waste no time: he drove straight in and Crew Members Scott Kennington and Andrew Mason plucked the 9-year-old out of the water. The crowd above clapped and cheered the crew.

Getting Jade back up to the quayside would be tricky and time consuming, so Kevin decided to take her back to the station for urgent medical assistance. Scott held the child tight to try to warm her up.

From the lifeboat station an ambulance transferred Jade to Gorleston’s James Paget University Hospital but she was later discharged. Kevin describes Jade as ‘very, very lucky’ to have survived both the strong ebb fl ow and the temperature of the water.

Reliving the ordeal, Jade’s mother is full of praise for the lifeboat crew who took only minutes to reach the scene. Sitting cradling her daughter now safely at home again, Caroline says: ‘I could not believe how quickly the lifeboat got there. I want to thank the people who saved her.’ Research: Andy Bash TeaM efforT the Pembrokeshire coast enjoyed a sunny evening on 7 august last year but, under cliffs near newport Bay, a stiff onshore breeze was imperilling the lives of three unprepared teenagers.

elizabeth Paine describes what happened next tHe DetAIL insHORe LiFeBOat D CLass D-652 Team Effort On station: 10 april 2006 Funding: Fishguard boat appeal Crew: Helmsman stephen Done (44, furniture maker) Joanne Boughton, (36, GP and musician) Robert Lanham (28, local port operative) aLL-WeatHeR LiFeBOat tRent CLass On-1198 (14-03) Blue Peter VII On station: 2 september 1994 Funding: funded by viewers of BBC tV’s Blue Peter Crew: Coxswain Paul Butler (46), mechanic stephen Phillips, second Coxswain Christopher Bean, simon Cookson, Wyn Griffiths, Peter Hughes, andrew nicholls, Paul Potter Local boys James thomas, michael Richards and thomas Bendell were enjoying picking their way around the rocky coastline east of Fishguard, walking, jumping, even climbing when necessary. they were seeing how far they could get just using their own physical skill and no special equipment, inspired by the adventure sport of coasteering. Clambering down towards a small bay, just west of Cat Rock, they found themselves on a ledge. they were horribly close to the chaotic water and the tide was rising – they had no way out.

thankfully, they were spotted. Following a 999 call, at 6.31pm the Coastguard requested assistance from the volunteers at Fishguard lifeboat station. Just 11 minutes later the inshore lifeboat Team Effort launched.

While the D class was ideal for work in shallow waters, conditions were stretching its capabilities, so Fishguard’s all-weather Blue Peter VII escorted the inflatable. Once in open sea, the powerful trent class took the lead so the smaller craft could shelter in her slipstream. even so, as the two vessels approached Dinas Head the waves grew so powerful that it took all of Helmsman steve Done’s skill to keep his crew members from being thrown overboard.

arriving on scene at 7pm they began a shoreline search. With the help of a Coastguard cliff rescue team that had also arrived, the boys were finally spotted sheltering behind a small ridge – visible only from the extra height of the trent’s upper steering position.

But between the boys and their rescuers lay a nightmare of broken rocks through which backwash from the cliffs slammed into the opposing 2m waves. the resultant turmoil promised to swamp the D class.

With the cliff rescue team now atop the cliff, Coxswain Paul Butler ordered his crews to stand off – the land-based team had the better chance of success. meanwhile, steve was familiarising himself with the complex wave patterns and, with Paul’s agreement, warily re-entered the bay. time after time steve let the surging waves drive the little boat backwards into the bay, using short bursts on the engine to keep her bow forward and avoid submerged rocks. several times, larger wave sets loomed and the lifeboat had to get out fast, only to try once more.

it was now evident that, while thomas was nearer the cliff base and reachable by the Coastguard team, James and michael were more dangerously exposed. an RaF helicopter was still 20 minutes away and, with the seas breaking ever closer to the trapped teenagers, steve knew that time was running out. He radioed Blue Peter VII saying he could reach the remaining two.

manoeuvring once again into the bay, the lifeboat found a little protection behind the same ledge that was sheltering the pair.

they moved towards the boat with relief but passing swells forced her to retreat twice before, without warning, a back-swell picked up the boat and dropped her on the rock ledge. seizing the moment, Crew members Jo Boughton and Robert Lanham grabbed the boys aboard, just before another swell refloated the lifeboat – at which steve took his chance to speedily power clear.

the rescued teenagers, while unhurt, felt frozen. as the two lifeboats met back up, Jo transferred with them to the trent to help deal with their mild hypothermia. One of Blue Peter VII’s crew swapped to Team Effort to provide more stability and both lifeboats returned through the rough seas to a safe landing – and some very relieved parents.

stephen Done’s exceptional seamanship and courage that day has earned him the thanks of the institution inscribed on Vellum. He remembers: ‘Despite the conditions, it never entered my head for a moment that we wouldn’t be able to rescue them – it’s what we’re trained to do. When you’re in situations like that, the training kicks in and you never think twice about going in. i don’t think [the boys] realised how dangerous a situation they were in.

they were shivering and obviously very relieved to see us.’ Joanne Boughton and Robert Lanham are awarded Chairman’s Framed Letters of thanks for their bravery and team working; Paul Butler’s effective command receives an Operations Director’s Letter of appreciation. ‘Despite the conditions, it never entered my head for a moment that we wouldn’t be able to rescue them – it’s what we’re trained to do.’ .