A new Gower lifeboat volunteer has completed his first rescue — with his father crewing alongside him.
Jay Littlejohns was among the Horton and Port Eynon RNLI crew paged shortly before 10pm on Friday 10 July, at the end of one of the hottest weeks of the year, after HM Coastguard reported two men in difficulty off Oxwich Point.
His father, Jeremy Littlejohns, was on the boat with him, alongside helm Dave Tonge and Alastair Massey.
Rowing until the rocks
The two men, from the Bristol area, had launched an inflatable dinghy with a battery-powered engine from Oxwich early in the afternoon to go fishing.
They had reached Port Eynon Bay when the engine lost power — leaving them to row back towards Oxwich until they were stranded on the rocks at the point.
By the time the lifeboat found them they had run out of water and were exhausted, the RNLI said.
The crew initially searched without success in poor visibility, before the shore Coastguard team pinpointed the men’s position from their mobile phone.
Both men were given water on board, taken back to shore at Oxwich with their boat, and handed over to the Coastguard.
‘Wonderful to see’
Launch authority Claire Payne said: “This was the first rescue for our new crew member Jay and it was great that his father Jeremy was with him on this occasion.”
“It illustrates the importance and involvement of family at RNLI stations. Jay has been training hard and it is wonderful to see his hard work being put to good use.”
She said the hot weather had brought far more people to the beaches and out on the water — “We want to see people enjoying themselves, but safely.”
Her advice to anyone heading out on a powered boat: make sure the engine is serviced and fuelled — and any electric engine adequately charged — and carry water, lifejackets and a means of communication. Anyone in difficulty on or near the coast should phone 999 and ask for the Coastguard.
A busy week on the water
It has been a busy week for the coast’s rescue teams in the heat: Mumbles RNLI rescued two teenagers cut off by the tide after tombstoning near Limeslade on Sunday, Port Talbot Coastguard drove onto the beach near Bay Campus to reach an injured beach-goer on the same Friday evening — and the team treated a jellyfish sting at Aberafan on Wednesday — as south Wales topped the UK’s temperature charts.
The Horton and Port Eynon crew know the coastline’s moods well — three of the station’s volunteers received RNLI commendations for a January rescue during Storm Éowyn.
The station’s shouts regularly involve walkers cut off by the tide at Worms Head — but Friday’s call was a reminder that flat-calm summer seas carry their own dangers.
