The break in our glorious Summer weather this week nearly led to disaster for three kayakers on Gower yesterday (Wednesday 7 July).
At 4.30 a helicopter from RAF Chivenor in North Devon was re-routed to assist when one of the kayakers got into difficulty in rough seas, strong winds and poor visibility. Mumbles lifeboat was also deployed following a report by a member of the public walking along the cliff path.
Tim Conway, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager at The Mumbles, said:
‘The weather wasn’t the best for a pleasurable trip to sea for these people and one of the kayaks wasn’t capable of being safe in what was quite rough weather. It was down to sheer luck and the quick thinking of the public that this didn’t turn out to be a disaster.
‘The Mumbles lifeboat arrived on the scene to find the kayakers had scrambled onto some rocks under the observation of the Sea King helicopter. The lifeboat then escorted them safely back to shore to be met by Swansea Coastguard for a quick reminder in best practise before setting out.
‘We would urge anyone taking to the sea in any conditions to check the weather forecast, have some means of communicating with shore if in distress, and always let someone know where you are going and when you intend to return. In this case it might have been worth checking to see the vessel they were going to sea in was really suitable for the task in hand.’
