At 1255 on Thursday 25^th July 2019, Guernsey Coastguard received a call from a member of the public expressing concern for a male swimmer off Lihou Island. The swimmer had swum from L’Eree to Lihou and got halfway back before returning to Lihou. Once back on the shore he appeared extremely exhausted and in some difficulty.

As Lihou Island causeway is currently closed due to tide, St Peter Port Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) was launched at 1315 and proceeded at speed to Lihou to render assistance to the swimmer. Police Officers attended the Lihou Headland and met with the first informant. Shortly after the ILB launched the swimmer re-entered the water and made his way to a passing fishing boat which picked him up and took him back to the headland.  Paramedics and police met him on arrival and St Peter Port ILB was subsequently stood down.

At 1017 on Sunday 21^st July 2019, Guernsey Coastguard received a radio call from 38ft motor cruiser “Cristelle” reporting that she was taking on water. No further information was received therefore St Peter Port All Weather Lifeboat “Spirit of Guernsey” was immediately paged.

Commutation was reestablished with Cristelle and it was determined that she was approximately 7 miles north of Guernsey and had suffered flooding on her starboard engine which had been contained. She had 2 persons on board and was making her way back to Guernsey on a single-engine. With the lifeboat crew already assembled, “Spirit of Guernsey” was tasked to intercept Cristelle and to accompany her back to St Peter Port in the event that the situation deteriorated.

Cristelle safely arrived in St Peter Port shortly after 1300 and the lifeboat returned to station.

James Way Duty SAR Mission Coordinator

Guernsey’s new lifeboat completed its first ‘shout’ to rescue a paraglider stranded on rocks at Pleinmont on 17th July 2019.
The new ILB was on scene 16 minutes after leaving the harbour and recovered both the casualty and another person on the scene. 
Chris Harvey, Lifeboat Operations Manager said ‘This is a great example of how capable the ILB is for this type of rescue. On a rapidly rising tide where every minute was crucial, the ILB was very quickly on scene and then able to get in amongst the rocks to rescue the casualties before transferring them to the bigger ALB. The ILB dramatically increases our ability to save lives in this situation.’