Oct 26 Combined JW - Flipbook - Page 19
Community update Hayling Herald
Hayling RNLI: The pride of Hayling
By Cat Dawtrey from Hayling RNLI
HAYLING RNLI’s volunteer crews had a busy
end to a hot summer, launching on service 15
times between the middle of August and the
middle of September, as well as responding to
a further five pager alerts where launches were
subsequently cancelled.
The busy period began on August 15th with the
station’s annual fete. The sun shone, the burgers sizzled and, as always, the homemade cakes
proved a huge success. A fantastic £4,897 was
raised, with huge thanks going to everyone who
supported the event, donated raffle prizes and
gave up their time to help.
The Ship Inn at Langstone held its annual raft
race the same day, with both Hayling lifeboats
heading out to support the popular event, which
itself raises money for the RNLI each year.
On August 24th, the pagers sounded at
11.17am, following a Mayday call from a yacht,
reporting a man overboard near the West Pole
Beacon. Hayling’s Atlantic arrived and discovered the casualty had fortunately been recovered
aboard, but in rough seas a casualty care crew
member was transferred onto the yacht to assess
him. The lifeboat then escorted the yacht towards
Chichester Harbour, assisted by Hayling Rescue
and Chichester Harbour Master’s patrol boat.
Once in calmer waters inside the harbour entrance, the casualty was transferred to the lifeboat and taken directly to Sparkes Marina, where
the Coastguard and an ambulance was waiting.
The lifeboat then returned to the yacht and,
together with Hayling Rescue, helped recover the
vessel safely to Sparkes Marina.
Friday, August 28th, the Coastguard requested another immediate launch, to a yacht taking
on water just outside the entrance to Chichester
Harbour. Hayling’s Atlantic was on scene within
five minutes and found a 42ft sailing yacht with
two people aboard desperately bailing water from
the bilge. The yacht had deployed its anchor,
which had become wrapped around the propeller and pulled the propeller shaft from the boat,
allowing water to pour into the vessel.
A Hayling crew member was transferred
aboard to assess the situation but, with rough
and challenging conditions and the urgency of
the situation, Selsey RNLI’s Shannon class lifeboat was launched to assist.
A Selsey crew member and additional salvage
pump were transferred onto the stricken yacht
and, after several attempts, the flooding was
brought under control. With the anchor rope
stuck on the seabed, it had to be cut before the
yacht was towed safely to Northney Marina.
While returning from Northney the crew were
diverted to assist a wingfoiler who had lost his
wing and was being carried out to sea by the
wind and tide. The crew located him half a mile
south-east of Chichester Harbour entrance and
recovered both him and his board to Hayling
Island Sailing Club
Two days later, the volunteers were called
from their beds by their pagers at 1.26am on
August 30th. Both Hayling lifeboats joined a
large multi-agency search in darkness and rough
conditions, until around 5am. Just over three
hours later, the crews launched again to continue
the search, finally being stood down shortly after
2pm.
One of the most dramatic incidents was on 11
September, when the D-Class launched at 10am
to a fisherman who had been swept from Chichester Bar into the strong tide.
His waders were full of water, but luckily he
had managed to grab a marker post and was desperately clinging on. The crew arrived and took
his fishing equipment from him, before quickly
recovering him on to the lifeboat and taking him
to the station to warm up.
He later told the crew that he had gone fishing
to celebrate his birthday and had been enjoying
a successful day, catching some good bass, before
suddenly finding himself swept away.
He said there was no way he could have es-
caped without their help and that the lifeboat
had arrived just in time – adding that he was
extremely glad to see the crew, as otherwise it
might have been his last birthday.
The following day brought another immediate
launch, to reports of two people in the water after
their vessel capsized. Hayling’s Atlantic quickly
located the casualties, who had by then been
recovered from the water by another vessel.
They were transferred onto the lifeboat, where
the crew checked they were safe and well, before
taking them to the lifeboat station to warm up.
Their upturned vessel was also recovered and
towed back to the beach.
The 15 launches in just a month demonstrates
the huge commitment behind Hayling RNLI’s
round-the-clock lifesaving service.
The dedicated volunteers give up their own
time – and when the pagers sound can be instantly called away from their families, their jobs
or out of their warm beds in the middle of a cold,
stormy night.
They commit to being ready when their pagers
sound and are prepared to head out in the cold,
the darkness, in rough seas and challenging conditions, putting themselves in potentially dangerous situations to help others in difficulty.
Their commitment, alongside the generosity
of the local community who support the station,
enables Hayling RNLI to remain ready to launch
and continue their mission to save lives at sea
whenever the call comes.
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