Littlehampton lifeboat crew braves thunder and lightening to rescue boat stranded at sea

The crew helped a 28-foot leisure vessel that had broken down three miles south west of Littlehampton Harbour.

Littlehampton RNLI’s Renee Sherman lifeboat was launched at 8.11pm and arrived at 8.32pm. A member of Littlehampton RNLI’s crew boarded the vessel to assess the situation, and it was decided to tow the boat to Littlehampton Harbour.

A thunderstorm was approaching from the south, so with lightning flashing all around them and rumbles of thunder becoming increasingly louder, Littlehampton RNLI’s volunteer crew rigged a tow and set course for Littlehampton Harbour. The broken down vessel was towed to the safety of Littlehampton Yacht Club and Renee Sherman arrived back at the lifeboat station at 9.50pm – just minutes before the thunderstorm and torrential rain arrived.

Nick White, Littlehampton RNLI’s Lifeboat operations manager, and Deputy Launching Authority for this tasking, said: ‘Our volunteer crew are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ready to help those in trouble in local waters – whatever the weather. Being stuck on a broken down boat in a thunderstorm would not have been a pleasant experience, so we are pleased that we were able to tow the vessel to the safety of Littlehampton Harbour, just in time.’