RNLI Whitstable lifeboat helps rescue teen paddleboarders and two men in dinghy near Sheppey

Published: 07:48, 21 August 2020

Updated: 08:09, 21 August 2020

Lifeboat volunteers have helped rescue a pair of teenage paddleboarders and two men onboard a dinghy that was swept out to sea.

In the first of two calls yesterday afternoon, the RNLI Whitstable team launched at about 2.45pm to reports a pair of teenage girls who had set off from Seasalter were having difficulty getting back to shore.

The Whitstable Atlantic 85 lifeboat is recovered after launching to a report of two occupants on a paddleboard in difficulty off Seasalter on Thursday afternoon. Picture: RNLI Whitstable

They found the girls trying to paddle in the sea off The Neptune, but they were making no progress back to their start point.

Although the pair declined assistance, the lifeboat crew advised them to make their way to the beach by The Neptune and escorted them ashore there.

Shortly after returning to station, the lifeboat was relaunched to search for two men in an 3m inflatable dinghy off Leysdown, Isle of Sheppey .

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Lifeboat helmsman Ben Crosswell said: "The RNLI lifeguards at Leysdown had the dinghy under observation and were able to direct us to its position about three-quarters-of-a-mile offshore.

"The two adult males onboard, who were both in their 40s, had not intended to go out that far but wind and tide had overcome the small battery-powered outboard motor.

"The dinghy and its occupants were brought onboard the lifeboat and taken ashore to Leysdown."

The lifeboat then returned to station.