The volunteers at the RNLI’s station at Burry Port have had a very busy three days over the August Bank Holiday period with four calls over the weekend.
The first call was on Saturday 27 August at 1 pm when the IB1 launched to assist a novice kite boarder got into difficulty one mile east of Burry Port.
The woman was having a kite boarding lesson when the wind dropped causing the kite to lose wind and drop into the sea. At this point she lost contact with the board and she was blown onto a sand bank. The instructor went to her assistance. As they were now on a sandbank they were unable to get ashore.
A member of the public who was on the shore had witnessed the incident and had called Swansea Coastguard who then requested the launch of Burry Port inshore lifeboat. The inshore lifeboat crewed by Gary Morgan and Darren Caines recovered the woman and her kite and after a short search also recovered the board. Woman, kite and board were returned safely to Burry Port.
On Sunday 28 August at 4:30pm the station’s Atlantic 75 launched to a report of two people cut off by the tide at Llanelli beach. The Atlantic crewed by Justin Pugh and Julian Aston proceeded towards Llanelli.
As the shore crew was recovering the Atlantic tractor and trailer back to the slip the coastguards requested the launch of the IB1 The YoungWatsons to investigate a report of two people cut off on the sand bank behind the lighthouse to the west of Burry Port.
The IB1 crewed by Gary Morgan, Nick Jones and Darren Caines searched the area from the sea and found no one on the sandbank and returned to station. This was a false alarm with good intent.
Meanwhile the Atlantic was en route to Llanelli was also stood down as the people thought to be in trouble had returned to the beach unaided.
The fourth call was on Monday at 10:40 when the station’s Atlantic 75 launched to the assistance of a four metre open boat with engine problems off Broughton Beach, north Gower. The boat with two persons on board had left Burry Port earlier Monday morning for a fishing trip. When it was time to return they could not start their engine.
The owner contacted Swansea Coastguard by mobile telephone to ask for help, the coastguards then requested the launch of the station’s Atlantic 75. The Atlantic was very quickly in the area and found the casualty.
The crew set up a tow and returned the casualty safely back to its trailer at Burry Port.
The Atlantic was crewed by Lee Howells, Darren Caines and Nick Jones.
