Major First Aid At Sandy Bay

Yesterday the Lifeguards at Sandy Bay were involved in a major first aid. More details to come from an RNLI press release.

Coastguard Rescue Helicopter 106 at Sandy Bay yesterday.

6 Rescues and several assistances in 2 hours.

Kitesurfing is an amazing sport and one that I would really like to be good at! Exmouth is one of the best places in the UK to kitesurf. The flat water in the estuary and the waves over the sand bar create great conditions for the Kite surfers be it locals, people down in Exmouth on holiday or just down for the day.

Between 3pm and 5pm the four Lifeguards on Exmouth Beach were involved in quite a few rescues and assistances. There was over 50 kites on the beach and in the water at the busiest time. The wind was reaching force 6, visibility was bad with dense sea mist and lashing rain at times so we had the RWC on the water patroling and observing the kite surfers.

The most involved of the 6 rescues was then two kitesurfers got in to difficulties and ended up on Conger rocks infront of our Lifeguard hut. One kitesurfer got washed on to the rocks when his kite was in the water being pulled by the tide. The second kite surfer snapped some of his kite lines causing the kite to ditch in the water and be taken by the tide on to the rocks. The RWC was quickly on scene, getting the first kite surfer to disconnect from his kite before he was pulled under by the fast flowing water around the rocks. He was returned to shore whilst I paddled a rescue board out to the second kite surfer and signalled to the Lifeguard base we needed more assistance. The second kitesurfer also disconnected from his kite and I paddled him back in to the beach. I then returned to Conger Rocks on the rescue board to gather the kites up. The RWC driver picked up a crew member from the beach to come and assist with collecting the kites. After dropping one kite back to the beach the RWC driver and crew had to make there way off quickly to another kite surfer in difficulty in the estuary channel.

Photo below: The RWC driver collecting a crew member to assist with several rescues.

In total 6 rescues were undertaken in 2 hours returning 6 kitesurfers to the beach with all their kit. Several other kitesurfers were assisted when they lost their kiteboards. Kitesurfing is like any other extreme sport, it has its risks. The big tides this weekend mean there was more water moving in and out the River Exe. If you are unsure about kiting on the seafront come and speak to the Lifeguards, or pop in to one of the local shops and ask for advice. The Duckpond is a good places for some relatively tide and current free kitesurfing.

Photos of some of the rescues to come.

Saturday at Sandy Bay. One Kayaker Rescue with Exmouth ILB

Every Saturday I am scheduled to work at Sandy Bay. Working on a two man beach with only a rescue board, rescue tube and a set of swim fins is a nice change from the bigger beaches at Exmouth with more Lifeguards and kit. Working a two man beach on busy days requires you to be switched on and very confident in your basic Lifeguarding skills.

Saturday had the potential to be a busy day on the beach and in the water at Sandy Bay. Rain for most the previous week, the start of the holidays, change over day, and sun shine all encourage people to go to the beach. By just after lunch the clouds had blocked out most of the sun and the wind had started to increase from a light breeze to force 4.

At around 3 PM a single kayaker appeared around Straight point headland. The female paddled in to Sandy Bay and proceeded to get out of her kayak and run towards the Lifeguard hut waving. I ran down to the meet her on the sand where she informed me that one of the other two kayakers she was with had capsized in the waves off the Straight Point cliffs. After relaying all the information to the other Lifeguard in the base and sending the kayaker up to him, I took a rescue board out around the point to find the person in the water. The Lifeguard in the base quickly called Brixham Coastguard to request some assistance as the kayakers were a long way off shore and out of sight.

Once I reached the man in the water, who was wearing a buoyancy aid and his upturned kayak I was able to secure him on the rescue board and paddle him in to the the rocks at the bottom of the Straight Point cliffs. When he was safely above the breaking waves I returned to the other kayaker who was in his kayak. We both made our way through the waves in to the bottom of the cliffs with the swamped kayak.

Exmouth ILB was quickly launched to come to our assistance. The Lifeguard back on the beach was able to reassure the first kayaker on the beach that help was on its way and radio Exmouth ILB giving them a location of myself and the 2 casualties.

When Exmouth ILB reached Straight Point the two casualties were transferred with their kayaks on to the ILB and were taken back to the beach to waiting Lifeguard and Mobile Coastguard Unit (Exmouth Coastguard.) All three kayakers were checked over back at the Lifeguard hut before they left the beach.

The slight increase in wind throughout the day and the big spring tides created some choppy conditions off Straight Point which can catch people out. Kayaking in a group of no less than three is a good idea. As with this rescue, one person can stay with the person in difficulties while another goes for help. A VHF radio is a great way to call for help especially as you can now get waterproof radios, carrying flares is another way of signalling for assistance if you are going to venture out kayaking in the sea.

This was another great example of Lifeguards and Lifeboats working together. Without the assistance from Exmouth ILB it would have been a very long paddle on the rescue board back in to Sandy bay and the casualty would probably have lost his kayak.

A Lifeguard entering the water on a rescue board at Sandy Bay.

I believe there is going to be a press release from the RNLI regarding this rescue so I will post a link to it when its online.

Beach safety talks and demonstrations

Since the start of this season we have done 30 beach safety talks and demonstrations mainly for school groups, occasionally for beaver, cub or youth groups.

The majority of these talks and demos have been on the beach over the past few weeks. Our main priority is the Lifeguard operation on the beach but as long as we have enough lifeguards and the beach is not too busy we are able to put on a beach safety talk and possibly a demonstration.

The main aim of these talks is to educate young people about how they can have a safe day at the beach. The talks normally last around 30 minutes and we hope by the end of it the children have learnt a lot or have at least been reminded about staying safe if they already know everything we tell them! The highlight of the talks and demos for most groups is a rescue of a swimmer in difficulty using our RWC.

If your school, youth group etc. would like a beach safety talk you can contact the RNLI by the phone number on The RNLI website here.

Beach safety talks and demonstrations are a great way of us helping prevent incidents before they occur.

Kite surfer rescue.

This year it seams the standard of kite surfers at Exmouth Seafront is higher than last. (At this point last season I am sure we had rescued more than we currently have this season.) We have still had a fair few rescues to do though!

Last week just as we were packing down at 1745 to finish at 1800 I spotted a kite surfer in difficulty. The kite surfers kite had got tangled in seaweed. This made it very difficult for them to relaunch the kite from the water. The incoming tide and wind started to pull the kite surfer towards the entrance to Exmouth Docks, a dangerous place to be when your in the water.

With the Kite surfer drifting towards the rocks and groynes at the entrance to the docks we decided to launch our RWC to go to their aid.

As it was 17.45 we were just taking the RWC off the beach to wash and run it down, so it was launched from the Exmouth ILB slipway. Once on scene with the kite surfer they packed their kit down. The kite surfer then climbed on to the rescue sled and secured their kit. We were then able to bring them back to the safety of the beach near the Octagon, where one of the Lifeguards had ran down from our Lifeguard hut to assist with the rescue.

School holidays start next week for most children so if the weather is good we could start to get very busy.

Seaside Rescue

The new series of Seaside Rescue started tonight. The series covers the work of the Coastguards, Rescue Helicopters, the RNLI Lifeboats and RNLI Lifeguards.

The camera crews mainly follow the RNLI Lifeguards on Perranporth beach.

If you missed tonight’s episode you can watch it on the BBC iPlayer here.

Burts Kite Photos

This is one of the latest photographs taken by burtskitecam.

You can see from this photo the new Exmouth Lifeboat Station is almost finished. You can also see our Lifeguard hut which is slightly further west this year allowing us better vision along the beach.

The latest Lifeguard RNLI news.

In the past week there has been a lot of activity for Lifeguards in Exmouth and Lifeguards around the South West Coast.

Most recently the Lifeguards down in Penwith along with the St Ives RNLI Lifeboats were involved in a search for a swimmer who got in to difficulty near Godrevy. The RNLI press release can be found here.

The RNLI has also recently put out a general beach safety press release to offer advice to people who are going to the coast this summer. This can be found here.

Back in Exmouth we have most recently been tasked by the Coastguard to search for two people cut off by the tide between Exmouth and Sandy Bay. We launched the RWC and located the two people on the small beach cut off by the tide. We were able to check the two people were ok and reassure them that the Exmouth Inshore Lifeboat was on its way to take them back to Exmouth. The RNLI press release from the rescue can be found here. This is a great example of RNLI Lifeguards and Lifeboats working well together.

It is important to check the tide times when walking along coastal paths and beaches to make sure you will not get caught out by the tide. If you do get caught out, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard who will get some assistance to you as quickly as possible.

This week we have also been busy rescuing kite surfers. In two different incidents we recued 3 kite surfers. One kite surfer became tangled around one of the channel maker buoys in the fast estuary current and had to release their kite to become untangled from the buoy. The RWC was quickly launched and collected the kite surfer on the RWC sled making sure they were now safe.

The second rescue involved two kite surfers who’s kites collided causing them tangle and drop in to the water. The RWC was already on the water from the previous rescue and quickly located the kite surfers and returned one of them back to the beach while I swam out to the other one and assisted him by swimming the kites back to the beach.

Exmouth is a great place to kite surf but you need to be aware of the local conditions and hazards. If you are unsure come and talk to the Lifeguards before you go in, or visit one of the local shops and get some advice on the best location for that time or day.

A picture of our RWC ready to be launched.

The sled is the large yellow and red mat attached to the back of the RWC. This is laid flad when the RWC is on the water. As shown in the photos in this post.

Peak season starts

From this morning Sandy Bay, Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren will have Lifeguards on them from 10AM to 6PM untill the Sunday 6th September.

There is a press release from the RNLI talking about the increased Lifeguard patrols featured on the BBC news website here.

Remember if you are going to a Lifeguarded beach swim between the red and yellow flags, don’t go in the water if you see a red flag flying and stay between the black and white flags if you are surfing.