Busy bank holiday for Littlehampton RNLI as packed beaches lead to four callouts

The first callout came at 2.36pm, after reports that three windsurfers were having trouble returning to shore a mile south of Littlehampton Harbour. After a lifeboat was launched, volunteer teams embarked on a thorough search across the coast from Littlehampton to Ferring and spoke to a number of people who matched the relevant description given by the Coastguard, but found all safe and well.

Less than half an hour after teams returned to the depot, the crew was called out again following reports that a dog was stranded out at sea near Ferring, and several people had waded in to help. The crew was stood down just as they launched their Renee Sherman Lifeboat down the slipway.

The third shout of the day came at 5.52pm, when teams received reports that a board user was struggling to return to shore and had attached themselves to a marker buoy. By the time the volunteers arrived in the area, however, there was no one there. In order to make sure the board user was safe, they conducted a detailed search of the area. The team were stood down at 9.20pm.

During the search, the team back at the lifeboat station were monitoring a distress signal from an eight-metre trimaran which had lost engine power. After the coastguard requested other boats in the area for help, the RNLI were called into action for the fourth time that day. The Renee Sherman was refuelled and reached the casualty at 9.48pm, five miles south west of the entrance to Littlehampton Harbour. Assessing the situation, the lifeboat crew decided the best course of action was to tow the vessel to the safety of the nearby harbour – which they did successfully.

Nick White, Littlehampton RNLI Lifeboat Station’s Lifeboat Operations Manager said: ‘Beautiful weather and a brisk offshore breeze led to a busy day for our volunteer crew. It’s easier than you think to get into trouble in the water, so we would always urge people – whatever their planned activity – to be aware of the dangers.”

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