Dart Lifeboat
The inshore lifeboat bringing in a motor boat found drifting 4 miles out in Start Bay in July 2013
"All The Stats"
Having launched over two hundred times since the Dart RNLI lifeboat became operational in November 2007 it allows us to see if there are any overall trends. The main conclusion is that every callout is different; the wind may be absent or near to a hurricane, the people being rescued may be highly experienced sailors or going out for their first time, their craft may be a canoe or a forty five foot motor cruiser.
One small group of calls for assistance stand out. They come from those taking out a freshly purchased boat or taking their own craft out for the first time in the new boating season. Having the engine serviced and carrying enough fuel would appear to be a prerequisite.
Of the craft requiring assistance 48% were motor boats and 41% were sailing boats. The other 11% were canoes or other self-propelled craft. Very few commercial vessels called the coastguard, but they included a small crabber and two ferries. Sometimes the casualty vessel, such as the ferry floating down the trots at night in September 2011, is just too large for us to handle alone. In these cases we radio for back-up from our flank stations in either Torbay or Salcombe. The most common reason for the All Weather Severn class lifeboat from Brixham, or the Tamar class lifeboat from Salcombe, to join us is when there is a search for people in the water, either in the harbour or in Start Bay.
During our 6 years of operations there have been 6 deaths in the area we cover; 3 drownings, 2 suicides and 1 heart attack. On the other side of the coin we have been credited with saving 6 lives and unofficially this number could be more than doubled.
25% of the calls from the Coastguard have been requests to search the river and the shoreline for missing persons whilst mobile Coastguard teams search on shore. These call outs often go unnoticed, especially if no one is found at the time and if they are later found ashore. 23% of all the calls take place during the hours of darkness and searches by night are frequent. They also take up a high percentage of the time the lifeboat is operational on the water. It is much quicker to tow in a vessel having problems than it is to search the river, in total darkness and gale force winds, from Sharpham to Totnes weir.
One way of being as safe as you can be on the water is to always wear a fully functioning lifejacket, preferably with crutch straps to stop it riding up over your head when inflated. The annual free lifejacket check by Ocean Safety will take place in the Lifeboat Station on Coronation Park on Saturday 12 April from 10am. If the jacket does need any spare parts these should be available to purchase at the same time.
John Fenton, RNLI Press Officer
First published By The Dart March 2014