NEWS FROM THE DART LIFEBOAT
www.dartlifeboat.org.uk
TREAT THE WATER WITH RESPECT. NOT EVERYONE CAN BE SAVED
It is the rescues by the RNLI lifeboat crew that rightly grab the headlines but much activity is also going on behind the scenes. On 8 May an experienced kayaker
capsized off Lower Gurrow Point near Dittisham in gusty conditions and then swam his boat ashore. Unfortunately once there he was unable to climb up from the foreshore through the foliage to safety. After half an hour, up to his waist in water fending his craft off the rocks, he decided to call the Coastguard on his mobile phone which he had kept in a waterproof pouch. He was rescued by the RNLI Dart lifeboat crew who spotted the emergency strobe light he had activated on the kayak. Once in the lifeboat he was assessed by the Paramedic crew member and found to be hypothermic and was treated accordingly. Statistics have shown that most of the kayakers who
attended and heard that flags carry messages and the flags on lifeguarded beaches can keep you safe. The risk of drowning is 500 times less on a beach with lifeguards on duty. Every Sunday and Tuesday evening the
Dart lifeboat is launched on a training exercise. The crew have to undergo a constantly rolling system of teaching and assessments. On 20 March a much larger exercise was arranged involving the RNLI all weather Tamar lifeboat from Salcombe and the local Coastguard search and rescue
The group most at risk of drowning are young men aged 16 to 39
died over the last few years could not reach their means of calling for help once they were in the water. This will be one of the targeted messages sent out to kayakers in this year’s ‘Respect the Water’ campaign. The RNLI’s water safety campaign was launched on 9 June and is aimed at all who visit the coast, from walkers to swimmers and recreational sailors to commercial fishermen. The group most at risk of drowning are young men aged 16 to 39. The campaign’s headline
this year is, ‘TREAT THE WATER WITH RESPECT. NOT eVeRYONe CAN Be sAVeD.’ Around half the people who drown around our coasts slip, trip or fall into the water unexpectedly. The RNLI Education team
from Dart lifeboat station gave eight presentations in primary schools around Dartmouth and in Totnes in the fortnight before the half term break. Over 800 children
teams with their manager. The Coastguard team abseiled down the cliff face at Little Coombe Cove to find a casualty who had fallen. The Dart inshore lifeboat crew attended and assisted the Coastguards in stretchering the casualty to the lifeboat and
then transferred him to the all weather lifeboat lying close offshore. The RNLI all weather Severn and Tamar class lifeboats
from Torbay and Salcombe are our flank stations and join us in attending serious incidents locally. This is why it is so necessary to practice with their crews during the year. John Fenton - RNLI Dart Lifeboat Press officer
The coastguard team rescuing a casualty who had fallen at Little Coombe Cove.
PHOTO- John Fenton
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