Sea Sunday, Safety Patrols & Missing Children at Camber

Jul 17, 2022

Another busy training session at our boathouse, which included being tasked to assist the search for missing children at Camber.

missing child at Camber, tasked to assist, Sunday training
Today was a glorious day down at Pett Level and a busy day for the Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat volunteers!

The day started with the annual Sea Sunday, a service that celebrates and give thanks for all those on the sea. There is a tradition for this to take place at our boathouse, which the pandemic sadly cut across for a significant time. Today, the service was resumed and it’s our pleasure to host the event and receive a blessing for the boats and crews.
volunteer beach teams and rescue crew training and tasked to assist
After the service the crew remained on station and launched to do a patrol of the local area. The beaches from Pett to Winchelsea Beach, across Rye Bay to Camber were incredibly busy with families enjoying the wonderful weather. Previous years have shown that unexpected incidents can happen at any time, so being immediately available is crucial. And in the event of such a fine weekend, it also proved necessary …

Tasked to assist in the search for missing children at Camber

At 18:30 we were tasked by UK Coastguard to assist in the search for missing children at Camber beach. We joined colleagues from RNLI Rye Harbour offshore at Camber, alongside local Coastguard teams.

All children were found safe and well, which is great news. Just as we were making our way back, we were requested by Coastguards to remain on scene to be available incase of further incidents. With so many thousands of visitors on the beach who are not familiar with local conditions, on a day like today it was clear our safety support could be needed at any time.

After remaining on scheme, we then returned to station around 7:30 pm. Then there was more busy-ness as our volunteers carried out the ‘recovery’ tasks. So, after a very ‘Sea Sunday’, our volunteers were then busy washing down the suits, boats and equipment, plus refuelling and preparing the boats to be #rescueready for the next call out.

boat recovery following SHOUT to search for missing person

A huge thanks to all our volunteer crew who continue to give their time on such a beautiful day. A special thank you too to the supporters an donors who help keep our independent rescue boat charity afloat.

IT COSTS MORE THAN £10k A YEAR TO KEEP OUR RESCUE BOAT CHARITY AFLOAT

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US

Bright and Breezy Sunday Training

Jul 10, 2022

Another glorious team training day down at Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat’s boathouse! This morning we were blessed with such wonderful sunshine and a timely tide, perfect for getting both boats onto the water for scenario training …

team training, independent rescue boat, East Sussex
Both our Pulfer boat and our smaller Tornado boat were launched with volunteer crews to train across a variety of exercises. These began with “person overboard!” training, focusing on the different methods of bringing a casualty into each of the boats. This scenario was rehearsed repeatedly across a range of difficult (but likely) positional and casualty injury situations. 
team training, independent rescue boat, East Sussex
Having both boats afloat is also the ideal time to include some team training in establishing a tow to a boat. Today, the tide was perfect for rehearsing in a precarious location with hazardous rocks below the water.

The breeze was also useful in helping our trainee helms learn more about boat handling whilst other members of the team established the tow. This worked successfully across both boats.

But of course, team training involves all the teams. Today, this meant our base and beach crew volunteers could monitor and rehearse the onshore activity involved in such rescues.

team training, independent rescue boat, East Sussex
Our volunteer crews, including our beach and base crews, work hard in team training, as part of our commitment to always being #rescueready. 

IT COSTS MORE THAN £10k A YEAR TO KEEP OUR RESCUE BOAT CHARITY AFLOAT

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US

Our 2023 Calendar Photo Competition Has Entries!

Jul 7, 2022

Time to update on our photo competition for our 2023 fundraising calendar. And the big news is … we now have entries!

photo competition, PLIRB 2023 Calendar
John Shipp’s a keen supporter of our calendar photo competition, winning MAY in our 2022 calendar.

And John’s into the competition again for 2023. This time around he’s submitted 5 amazing local scenes, including this lovely low tide at Cliff End!
photo competition 2023 calendar

Entries welcome for our 2023 Calendar Photo Competition

Have you got an inspiring image you’d like to include, to get you into the competition and maybe onto our charity calendar?

From scenic seascapes and lovely landscapes to splendid skies and amazing aspects, we warmly invite you to enter our photo competition and help raise money to support our independent rescue boat charity, all at the same time! But the clock’s ticking so don’t leave it to the last moment … entries in as soon as possible please!

Full details, Ts & Cs for entry are on our competition donation page, JUST CLICK HERE!

This year, we’ll finally be able to include a gallery of the photo competition entries on the website, so please keep checking back for more info and up dates. And in the meantime, please contribute your wonderful images and join in this FUNdraiser!

And thanks again to John for supporting our independent rescue boat charity with this wonderful shot … of a very favourite spot!

IT COSTS MORE THAN £10k A YEAR TO KEEP OUR RESCUE BOAT CHARITY AFLOAT

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US