Our lifeboat crews and lifeguards carry out thousands of rescues every year. Here are just some of those caught on camera, and see the following pages for more reports:

6 SKERRIES | PAGE 10
7 PORTRUSH | PAGE 14
8 DUNGENESS | PAGE 16
You can also watch and read the latest rescues online at RNLI.org/news or facebook.com/RNLI.
Words: Jon Jones. Photos: RNLI/(Ben Billingham, Bridlington, Lewis Davidson, Paul Markland, Victoria Phipps)

1 MEDICAL EMERGENCY
SALCOMBE | 13 JULY
When a woman fell heavily onto rocks near Gammon Head, our volunteers responded swiftly with both lifeboats. Two inshore crew, trained in casualty care, assessed the woman, who had sustained back injuries and was in considerable pain. Using extra hands and kit from the all-weather lifeboat they stabilised the casualty, gave her pain relief and carefully transferred her to the bigger lifeboat in a basket stretcher. The all-weather crew continued casualty care on the journey back to Salcombe Harbour, where the woman was transferred to an ambulance and taken to hospital.

2 NAVIGATEUR SOLITAIRE
BRIDLINGTON | 10 SEPTEMBER
A French sailor on passage from Scotland to France found himself in trouble off the Yorkshire coast when two halyards snapped, leaving him with one sail. With a force 5 wind blowing, he was making little headway and was effectively stranded 11 miles off Bridlington. Our all-weather crew launched at 11am and carefully put alongside the yacht, so that Crew Member Andy Rodgers could get onboard. He
helped to set up a tow and safely stowed all the loose sails and ropes, before the lifeboat crew towed the man and his yacht into the safety of Bridlington Harbour.

3 PIER DRAMA
THE MUMBLES | 10 SEPTEMBER
A fisherman was trapped under Mumbles Pier when his boat lost power and was swept onto one of the pier’s stanchions by a strong spring tide. One of our crew members spotted distress flares in the dark and called 999 on his way to the lifeboat station. The inshore lifeboat crew were on scene within 5 minutes and towed the man and his vessel back to safety at Knab Rock. Lifeboat Operations Manager Tim Conway says: ‘One of our crew had spotted the boat launch earlier in the evening and was concerned that it had no lights.’

4 KNEE-DEEP IN TROUBLE
HOYLAKE | 2 AUGUST
When hazardous mudflats prevented lifeguards reaching a man stuck fast in mud, Hoylake volunteers came to the rescue with their hovercraft and specialist mud rescue equipment. With the man stuck up to his knees and the tide coming in, the crew worked fast to free his legs while supporting him with
boards. He was safely aboard the hovercraft before the area flooded. Crew Member Dave Noble says: ‘The mud around the Wirral coast can be very dangerous. If it hadn’t been for the prompt and coordinated efforts of all the emergency services, the outcome could have been very different.’

5 A WEEK AGROUND
THURSO AND LONGHOPE | 18, 25 JULY
Thurso lifeboat crew were paged at just after 3am when a huge cargo ship, carrying oil and fertiliser, ran aground in Pentland Firth. Thurso volunteers stood by to ensure the safety of ship and crew until they were relieved by Longhope RNLI at around 2pm. Efforts to refloat the ship at high water were unsuccessful and the Longhope crew were stooddown. The ship remained hard aground with her crew  safely onboard, while salvage teams lightened her load. When she was eventually refloated a week later, Longhope crew returned to escort her to the safety of Scapa Flow.