While afloat overseeing the progress of the Centra Triathlon Swim on a fantastic sunny Sunday afternoon on 9th September, Crosshaven Lifeboat was tasked to Whitebay where the Coastguard had received reports of a large number of people trapped by the incoming tide. Crosshaven Lifeboat proceeded at 1605 and was on scene just a few minutes later, where 12 beachgoers were seen in a bay to the South of the main beach. The incoming tide had trapped them in a cove and when the lifeboat arrived, there was only a few short yards of beach left for them to stand on with over an hour left to high water.
The only way out of the cove was by a dangerous climb up cliffs, a long swim around to the main beach (and several of the party could not swim) or evacuation by sea. Otherwise, they would have faced a wait of over 3 hours before the tide went out far enough to walk around by which time they would have been wet and getting cold as the evening drew in.
Following a brief consultation with the party, the lifeboat crew decided to make two trips to take the entire group off the remote beach and onto the main beach. The lifeboat took 8 and 4 people off in the two short trips. They were all dropped safely to the main beach in Whitebay, and the lifeboat returned to station in Crosshaven. During the service, Crosshaven Coastguard Boat and Cork City Civil Defence also stood by in the event that further assistance was required. This callout shows the importance of local knowledge and being "Beach Aware" - for further information visit http://www.rnli.org.uk/
This is the largest number of casualties Crosshaven Lifeboat has rescued in a single service since the station was set up in 2000. This was the 34th callout this year for Crosshaven Lifeboat which remains one of the busiest around the coast of Ireland.
