CHRISTMAS came early for lucky kitesurfers rescued off Exmouth.
Inshore lifeboat George Bearman was launched at 9.19am this morning to rescue a kitesurfer in difficulty off Conger Rocks, half a mile from the lifeboat station. The casualty's companion had called for help by banging on the RNLI shop door.
Luckily, dependable shop volunteers were taking delivery of charity's Christmas cards and called the Coastguard to set off Crew volunteers' pagers.
The local man had fallen off his board in the storm and after the wind dropped, was unable to raise his kite. The casualty was brought ashore safely and was uninjured.
Whilst still on the ramp at 9.36am, the inshore lifeboat volunteers were tasked to various boats adrift on the river after this morning's storms.
Arriving on scene at Lympstone and Starcross they secured a number of boats, one which had started taking on water.
The Exmouth RNLI shop is now open winter times, which are 11am-4pm every day, subject to adverse weather conditions and volunteer availability. The Monday team had started at 8.15am this morning and had been briefed by Operations volunteers how to initiate the rescue process.
If you find yourself or someone in difficulty, please call 999 or 112 to call the Coastguard to start our rescue process, as Crew volunteers are called to the station by their pagers.
