Both of Penarth’s lifeboats were launched yesterday (Sunday 21st August), to rescue a party of adults and children from a small boat that had taken on water near Flatholm.
A nearby fishing vessel had spotted the group bailing out the RIB (rigid inflatable boat), and making slow progress through choppy seas towards Cardiff.
Helm Andy Vye-Parminter and crew Karl Lawrence, Owain Davies and James Sidford took the Atlantic 85 boat, equipped with a salvage pump, closely followed by the smaller inland lifeboat, which was helmed by Jason Dunlop and crewed by Geraint Williams and Ben Reynolds.
“Once we reached the RIB, the skipper confirmed that they were no longer taking on water but they had been swamped by waves. All the occupants – 3 adults and three children aged 6, 12 and 14 – were dressed in short sleeved tops and shorts and were wet through, shivering and suffering from the wind chill” explained Atlantic 85 helm, Andy Vye-Parminter.
“Some of them were in obvious distress and upset following their experience. We transferred two of the children and their mother to the lifeboat, and treated them for hypothermia”, he added.
The remaining 3 on the RIB decided they would try and make it back to Cardiff, and left before the lifeboat crew could lend them safety equipment and lifejackets suitable for the choppy conditions, so the smaller ILB lifeboat caught up with them to help and make sure that none of the party was suffering from hypothermia.
The mother and her two children were wrapped up in the crew’s kit and taken at top speed to the slipway where an ambulance had been called, as the 6 year old boy’s condition was becoming worse. The crew found out that he had earlier been washed overboard from the RIB and had gone under the hull, before being hauled out of the water by the adults. Within 5 minutes, the casualties were safely in the care of paramedics and were taken to hospital for further treatment.
Laurie Pavlin, Sea Safety Officer for Penarth RNLI, said: “Anyone setting out on the water must make sure they have all the necessary safety equipment and must take account of sea conditions. Even when the sun is shining, the sea can still be very dangerous”.
