The Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) has issued critical safety advice about wearing a lifejacket and checking weather conditions after a rescue off Dawlish on Tuesday (September 2).

Exmouth RNLI launched its Shannon lifeboat, the ‘R and J Welburn’, at 2.39pm on Tuesday after receiving reports of a boat taking in water in two metre waves off Langstone Rock.

When the volunteer crew arrived on scene, they discovered that six of the eight people on board a five metre rigid inflatable boat (RIB) were not wearing life jackets.

The crew of the RIB had been on their way from Teignmouth to Exmouth when they had got into trouble due to the challenging sea conditions with a moderate westerly wind generating a slight to moderate sea state.

When the Exmouth lifeboat arrived on scene, the volunteers found the RIB crew bailing water from the vessel after it had become overwhelmed by the waves and developed engine issues.

The six crew who were not wearing lifejackets were feeling the cold and the Exmouth RNLI crew decided to take them off the stricken vessel so they could benefit from the warmth and safety of the lifeboat.

In the meantime, the remaining two casualties had managed to restart the engine and decided to turn back to Teignmouth.

Exmouth RNLI followed the RIB back to Teignmouth to ensure its safe passage and to deliver the six casualties on the ‘R and J Welburn’ lifeboat safely to shore.

All eight casualties from the RIB arrived back in Teignmouth cold but unharmed.

The Exmouth RNLI Shannon-class lifeboat and its volunteer crew of seven returned to the lifeboat station where the boat was washed down and re-fuelled in readiness for the next call.

RNLI advice on the use of life jackets can be found at https://rnli.org/safety/lifejackets

RNLI advice on checking weather conditions can be found at https://rnli.org/.../yacht-sailing-and-motorboating...