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Busy time at Whitstable RNLI

Lifeboats News Release

A call to assist a motor boat with engine problems saw Whitstable RNLI launch on their 3rd service over the last two days on Tuesday afternoon.

The Whitstable lifeboat approaches the motor cruiser with engine problems on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: RNLI Whitstable.

RNLI Whitstable

The Whitstable lifeboat approaches the motor cruiser with engine problems on Tuesday afternoon.
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The stations B-Class lifeboat Lewisco launched at 3.10 pm to a 20-foot motor cruiser which was reported as being in the vicinity of the Red Sands Towers, one of the former wartime anti aircraft forts some 6-miles off Whitstable. The craft was drifting near to the main shipping lane in the Thames Estuary. There was 1 person onboard.

Helmsman Ben Crosswell said “We arrived alongside the craft and the occupant stated there was a fuel issue. One of our crew went onboard the casualty and was able to rectify the problem”.

“We decided to escort the vessel towards Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey and later the Sheerness Shannon class All-weather lifeboat Judith Copping Joyce arrived to take over escort duties and we returned to station”.

Weather conditions at the time were westerly force 3 winds and clear visibility.

The lifeboat was in action for a second time on Tuesday when it was launched at 8.22pm to a kayak adrift 1-mile north of the Kings Hall, Herne Bay. On arrival at the scene the kayak which had no recent signs of occupation was lifted onto the lifeboat and landed ashore at the lifeboat station. Helm Ruth Oliver said “This was a good spot by the first informant on shore and it might be advisable that owners of kayaks have their contact details marked on their craft so that checks can easily be made if craft are found adrift”.

Previously on Monday evening the lifeboat was called to two incidents. At 7.08pm the lifeboat was requested to launch following a report of 3-persons waving for help offshore from the Neptune Arm at Herne Bay.

However as the lifeboat arrived at the scene the crew were ‘stood down’ as the casualties had made their way ashore to be met by the Herne Bay Coastguard Rescue Team.

Shortly after arriving back ‘on station’ and whilst the lifeboat and launching tractor and carriage were being washed down the crew were asked to launch again after a report of a kite surfer entangled in his rigging off Tankerton to the east of Whitstable.

The crew located the kite surfer who was still entangled in the rigging and the casualty was taken onboard the lifeboat and landed ashore unharmed.

Weather conditions were westerly force 3-4 winds.

There have now been 20- calls on the volunteer crews at Whitstable RNLI so far this year.


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








The Whitstable B-Class lifeboat approaches the Sheerness all-weather lifeboat during the incident involving a motor cruiser with engine problems on Tuesday afternoon.

RNLI Whitstable.

The Whitstable B-Class lifeboat approaches the Sheerness all-weather lifeboat during the incident involving a motor cruiser with engine problems on Tuesday afternoon.
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Whitstable lifeboat locates the drifting kayak 1-mile north of Herne Bay. Picture: RNLI Whitstable.

RNLI Whitstable.

Whitstable lifeboat locates the drifting kayak 1-mile north of Herne Bay.
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The drifting kayak is brought onboard Whitstable lifeboat.

RNLI Whitstable.

The drifting kayak is brought onboard Whitstable lifeboat.
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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

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