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Teenagers brought ashore by Whitstable RNLI

Lifeguards News Release

Two female teenagers had to be brought ashore by the Whitstable RNLI B-class lifeboat Lewisco after they got stranded onboard a craft moored offshore from the lifeboat station on Monday evening.

Lewisco, the Whitstable B-Class lifeboat.

RNLI/Chris Davey

Lewisco, the Whitstable B-Class lifeboat.
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Helm Dave Parry said “The two girls had been struggling in the water and a man onshore swam out to assist and the call was actually to him. However the two girls had made their way to, and clambered onboard the yacht club committee boat at anchor some 300-yards offshore. The male swimmer having realised this and that it was a long way, turned around and came back onshore”.

“We therefore continued to the yacht club vessel and brought the two girls onboard and landed them ashore at the lifeboat station”.

The two girls teenagers were checked over by an ambulance crew and their parents were advised to take them to hospital for a further check due to water ingestion.

Weather conditions at the time were south-easterly force 1 winds and good visibility.

This was the 21st call of the year for the volunteer crew members at Whitstable RNLI.

Notes to editors


  • Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat Station was established in 1963 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and is one of 237 lifeboat stations around the shores of the UK and Ireland. The volunteer crews provide a maritime search and rescue service for the Kent coast. They cover the area between the Kingsferry Bridge on the Swale, in the west, around the south-eastern side of Sheppey and along the coast through Whitstable and Herne Bay to Reculver in the east and outwards into the Thames Estuary.

  • The station is equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat named Lewisco, purchased through a bequest of a Miss Lewis of London who passed away in 2006.

  • She is what is known as a rigid inflatable inshore lifeboat, the boat’s rigid hull being topped by an inflatable sponson. She carries a crew of four people.

  • RNLI media contacts

  • Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
    07741 012004/     [email protected]

  • Julie Rainey - Regional Communications Lead : 07827 358256

  • Hatti Mellor - Regional Communications Manager :07724 801305

For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789










Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.

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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.

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