Photo: RNLI Margate
Margate RNLI has rescued a father and his daughter who were struggling to return to shore in strong tidal conditions off the north Kent coast.
UK Coastguard was contacted in the afternoon on Wednesday 31 March by a member of the public whose husband and daughter were on stand-up paddleboards some distance offshore at St Mildred’s Bay, Westgate-on-Sea.
They appeared to be having difficulties returning to the beach.
View Margate RNLI video https://rnli.org/video-player/00E21C24-5C40-4FDA-9A87B891040CB867
Margate’s RNLI inshore lifeboat was called to investigate and quickly located the pair, still on their paddleboards around half a mile offshore. They were taken onboard the lifeboat and after checking they were otherwise unharmed were returned to shore and into the care of Margate Coastguard Rescue Team members and their waiting family.
Peter Barker, Lifeboat Press Officer, Margate RNLI said: ‘There are some useful safety messages from this call. The pair did the right thing by remaining with their boards rather than trying to swim back to shore but were being swept seawards by a strong ebb tide.
“People should be aware of the tidal conditions when using stand-up paddleboards and ideally have some means or raising the alarm such as a mobile phone in a watertight bag but remembering phone signals become unreliable when offshore.’