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Child & Dog Among Group In Watcombe Bay Rope Rescue

The rope rescue from Watcombe Bay (Photo: © H.M. Coastguard, Ventnor)

Coastguards supported by lifeboat volunteers have rescued seven people and a dog, cut-off by the tide at Watcombe Bay on Sunday (May 30), by using a rope and winch to pull them up the cliffs.

According to crew members with the Freshwater Independent Lifeboat, those in need of rescue were a group of paddle-boarders who'd made their way to the bay, slightly west of Freshwater.

However, tidal conditions yesterday made it apparently unsafe for them to leave the south-facing bay in the same way that they arrived.

Around 2pm, H.M. Coastguard received an alert, which was followed by the mobilisation of coastguard teams from The Needles and Ventnor, together with the RNLI lifeboat volunteers from Yarmouth, and the volunteer crew of the Freshwater Independent Lifeboat.

On arrival, it became clear that not only were the paddleboarders cut off by the tide in Watcombe Bay, but also it was unsafe for them to be directly rescued by any lifeboat because of the sea conditions.

At this point, it was decided that the safest recovery would be through using a rope attached to a winch, to pull everyone in need of rescue up the cliff face.

All were then brought safely to solid ground.

A spokesperson for Freshwater Independent Lifeboat described the operation as:

"Great work by all teams."

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