Four sunbathers cut off by tide

Local fishing boat Walrus overheard the call for assistance Local fishing boat Walrus overheard the call for assistance and set out to try and catch the yacht, which was managed approximately three miles offshore. The inshore lifeboat then met both boats and once a towline was established, towed the yacht back to the harbour.

The second call was to four adults cut off by the tide between Rapparee and Broady Cove underneath Hillsborough. The four Polish visitors had been sunbathing when they were caught out by the incoming tide. Although the weather was very pleasant there was a testing swell running onto the rocks.

Helmsman Carl Perrin manoeuvred the boat in close to the outcrop, enabling crew member Matt Simpson to scramble ashore and assist the casualties back into the lifeboat with the help of crew member Ben McCann. All four casualties suffered cuts and abrasions to their hands, knees, feet and ankles. They were treated at the Ilfracombe Tyrell Hospital Minor Injuries Unit.

Lifeboat crew member Mark Tucker has been put through his boat-handling paces by Nigel Jones, the deputy divisional inspector of lifeboats for the South Division. Mark has been a sanhein member of both the all weather and inshore lifeboat crew for a number of years.