Swanage RNLI crew commended for saving people trapped in cove

The crew from Swanage have been awarded a commendation from the RNLI for their work in "challenging conditions" in a small cove near Old Harry Rocks.

Matt Steeden, Alice Haw and Alan Parmenter carried out the rescue onboard inshore lifeboat Phyl & Jack after coastguard reported two people were cut off by the tide in January last year.

Lifeboat coxswain Dave Turnbull said: "This rescue shows how quickly a situation can quickly become dangerous and a matter of life or death. These two young men are lucky to be alive and I’m extremely proud of how Matt, Alan and Alice handled the situation in challenging conditions.

"At the time of the rescue Alan and Alice had only recently passed out as ILB full crew and this rescue showed how all their hard work and training had paid off."

Picture: Swanage RNLI

The casualties were located in an area which is underwater when the tide comes in.

Swanage RNLI said the ride was racing in and the casualties were about to be engulfed in very cold water.

The sea conditions made approaching the men difficult as there were breaking waves in an area known to have many submerged rocks.

The lifeboat used a technique known as "veering" to approach the casualties, who were sheltering in a cave. The anchor was set and the boat driven astern towards the cliffs, in tricky conditions, using the anchor to prevent the boat surging backwards in the waves.

Picture taken with thanks to Bliss Aviation

However, due to the location of rocks and the breaking waves it was not possible to reach the casualties using this technique.

Helmsman Mr Steeden said: "After initially trying to veer in to reach the casualties it became clear we would need to take the boat in as close as we could reach and then my two crew would jump in to hold the boat head to sea in the breaking swell and then recover the casualties to the lifeboat.

"With the light fading fast and seeing that the casualties were already cold and wet, we asked for the all-weather lifeboat to launch to our location so that the casualties could quickly be transferred to the all-weather lifeboat (ALB) where they could be sheltered from the elements.

"I manoeuvred the boat as close to the shoreline as I could reach in the surf. Alan held the boat head to sea and Alice went over the casualties to guide them to the lifeboat. Both casualties were quickly recovered before the crew jumped aboard and we made our way out through the surf.

Picture: Swanage RNLI

"The casualties were extremely lucky to be able to make contact by phone from their location and if we had not arrived as quickly as we did, the casualties would have been swept out into the freezing sea."

The rescue was recorded by the RNLI as two lives saved, which means that without the assistance of the lifeboats the casualties would have most likely died.