In the middle of day one of a Cas (Casualty) Care course at RNLI Rye Harbour the pagers went off on Tuesday August 9. At 12.10pm HM Coastguard requested the launch of the Atlantic 85 to assist two young lads who were in a craft that was sinking. Stuart Clark, helm, said: “The two lads swam to shore, and our crew towed their boat into as shallow water as possible so that it was recoverable at low water.”
The crew was able to assemble quickly as many of the shore crew were attending the Cas Care course at the boathouse. Stuart was joined in the boat by Rob Jennings, Tia Bolton and Ron Thrall from Littlestone who was on the course. Shore crew were Chris King (DLA), Gary Collard, Jack Iliffe, Emma Stonham, Mick Cocker, Steve Spooner and Neil Jolly.
The boat was back at the station at 1.30pm and prepared for further launches.
As always, this was a good professional team effort. For some of the new recruits these real experiences are a valuable enhancement of the scenario training they have been receiving.