Boats launched : Atlantic 85 & D-Class
Dates : 7, 8, & 9 August.
Times launched : All mid-late afternoon.
Times returned : Approx 1-2 hours later.
Weather : Sunny and warm and ideal for the beach! Winds light to moderate.
The summer weather and school holidays have brought visitors to Hayling and the Wittering beaches, with 8 missing children over three days. Crowded beaches are a haven for children to wander off and get lost. W Wittering lifeguards do a really good job returning children to their worried parents and only call the lifeboats out when other searches have been done, but they felt the need to call us especially on Saturday August 8 when we searched for 5 children. Fortunately all 5, and others on the adjacent days, were found safely on shore. More recently we were called out to help a ‘body’ in trouble with an inflatable dinghy, but on reaching the dinghy we found it was anchored and the ‘body’ was an orange buoy! It could have been otherwise, as with the children, so these are never fruitless rescues.
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