SANDOWN and Shanklin Inshore Lifeboat (SSIL) rescued a child of eleven, who was blown out to sea, today, Monday August 16.
The Solent Coastguard alerted SSIL to the situation at 10.55am after a report from a family member that their daughter was being blown out to sea.
The Coastguard Helicopter 104 was scrambled, spotted the child, who was about three quarters of a mile out to sea from Yaverland, and was able to direct SSIL to pick up the little girl.
“It was decided to launch the lifeboat instead of trying to winch the young girl into the helicopter because the downdraft would have blown the small boat away,”said Mark Birch, Operations Manager of SSIL. “Conditions were quite choppy and getting more so the further out you went,” he added.
“She was very frightened and shivering,” said Mark. “Bembridge coastguard were onshore with the family and we made our way back to Yaverland to meet them. The girl was treated for shock and made warm again.
“The reason for this incident was that there is an off shore wind which helped accelerate the boat along. It would be wise to say that in these conditions you shouldn’t go out too far.”
