Incident prompts warning to check conditions before entering sea and always wear a lifejacket
Sidmouth Lifeboat was called out to rescue two people in danger of getting swept onto rocks in an inflatable dinghy yesterday (Sunday).
Crews were alerted by the coastguard at 2.39pm after the vessel was seen blowing down wind approximately half a mile south east of the town and unable to safely reach the shore.
The lifeboat was on the scene by 2.50pm, at which point the two people – who were not wearing lifejackets - had reached Salcombe Mouth.
Crew members explained the danger in attempting to carry on and assisted the pair into the lifeboat, dropping them safely at Salcombe to return to Sidmouth on foot, before taking the inflatable dinghy back to shore.
Senior coxswain Phil Shepperd has issued a safety warning after witnessing a string of potentially dangerous incidents where adults have taken children out in very small boats without any safety devices.
He said: “People need to look at the wind and sea conditions before going on the water and always wear lifejackets.
“Anyone on the sea or beach yesterday afternoon will have seen how quickly conditions can change for the worse and we are lucky not to have had a major incident.”
He added that had the lifeboat not been scrambled to the rescue, there could have been a very different outcome yesterday (Sunday, August 8).
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