THE first shouts of 2018 for Falmouth RNLI Lifeboat Volunteer Crew both came on the same day

On Tuesday, January 9, the crews firstly to an unattended kayak and later both boats were launched to assist a yacht that had run aground on the Helford River.

The inshore lifeboat Eve Pank was launched at 10.10am with Luke Wills (helm), Tom Bird and Nick Head. The alarm was raised after a kayak was spotted floating 50 metres of Gyllyngvase Beach.

The lifeboat recovered the unattended kayak floating in the water and carried out a search from Swanpool up to Pendennis before returning to the station.

The RNLI said although the unaccompanied kayak was a false alarm, it was made with good intention, as there may have been a missing person. It said calling 999 and asking for the Coastguard was the correct response in this situation.

The second call-out of the day came that afternoon, with the all-weather lifeboat Richard Cox-Scott launched at 3.39pm and proceeded to Helford river. Having launched and been updated on the situation, the inshore lifeboat Eve Pank was also paged and launched at 16.03 pm to assist with the shout. The all-weather lifeboat volunteer crew consisted of Jonathan Blakestone (coxswain), Andy Jenkin, David Nicoll, Tom Bird, Jamie Connolly and Will Allen, with the inshore lifeboat crewed by Nick Head (helm), Neil Capper and Jamie Wakefield.

On the Helford river, near Durgan beach, a visiting nine-metre yacht had drifted on its moorings towards rocks and run aground. With one person aboard, lines were attached to the yacht to await the incoming tide. Once refloated, the lifeboat took the yacht to a mooring off Helford Passage as there was no notable damage to the hull or water leaking.