Heatwave leads to busy weekend for Shoreham RNLI lifeboat crew

The busy weekend of calls began at 6pm on Friday (June 29), when two lifeboats were sent to a report of kayakers in trouble in the water off Lancing.

The inshore lifeboat crew found a kayaker in the water in distress without a buoyancy aid and his kayak was almost sunk, a spokesman said.

He was pulled from the water and taken back to the beach and checked over before being handed over to the Shoreham Coastguard team.

The sunken kayak was retrieved from the water and taken back to the lifeboat station.

On Saturday, while carrying out a display at the Hove Deep Anglers Club fun day off Hove Lagoon, the all weather lifeboat was tasked to a report of a man clinging to a buoy in the water off Lancing Beach Green.

The lifeboat proceeded to the scene but on arrival, the Worthing Beach Patrol rescue jet ski had picked up two men from the water.

The lifeboat crew checked they were OK and then returned to Hove.

On Sunday, the all weather lifeboat was launched to a report of a yacht which was overdue off Brighton at 4am.

The 25ft vessel with three crew on board had not been heard from since Saturday afternoon.

The lifeboat carried out an extensive search eastwards towards Beachy Head for more than two hours but found no sighting of the crew.

However the yacht was found on its moorings at Brighton Marina. A spokesman said the call was with ‘good intent’.

Later that day, the inshore lifeboat was launched to a report of a broken down 23ft speedboat a quarter of a mile south of Shoreham at 2.30pm.

The vessel with four people on board was towed into the harbour and taken into the locks.

Lifeboat coxswain Steve Smith said: “The heatwave has meant a busy weekend for the lifeboat crews and we have had a mixture of calls including saving the life of the kayaker who was in trouble in the water.”

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