What did you do over Christmas?

The Whitehaven Team on Christmas Day
While most people were spending time with family and friends celebrating Christmas cheer, our Coastguards were on call around the UK.

Forty Coastguard Rescue Teams were called out to help those in need over the three day period from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, with 10 being called into action on Christmas Day itself.  In fact, the team in Gorleston, Norfolk were paged twice! 

From reported sightings of flares to kite surfers in difficulty, the Coastguard was there when needed.  Christmas was just another day at the office, so to speak.

As well as the teams responding to incidents, Coastguards were also out on safety patrols ready to respond at a moments’ notice when the call came.

Coastguard teams paged on Christmas Eve;
Sunderland (twice), Eastbourne, St David’s, Cleethorpes, Furness (twice), Lulworth, Portreath, Holyhead, Beer Head and Southbourne.

Coastguard Teams paged on Christmas Day;
Amble, Gorleston (twice), Whitehaven, Looe, Polruan, Tenby, Southbourne, Folkestone, Bridlington, Southend and Poole.

Coastguard Teams paged on Boxing Day;
Penzance, Lands End, Bembridge, Ventnor, Crosby, Penmon, Torbay, Llandwrog, Flint, Padstow, Peterhead, Blyth, Skinningrove, Berryhead, St Ives, Hillhead, Southampton, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Maryport.

The story behind the photos.

Just before 11am on Christmas Day, the Whitehaven Coastguard Rescue Team were called by a member of the public who spotted what they thought was an inflatable life raft, 300-400 metres off shore.  The team carried out a search and identified it as a marker buoy broken in two.  

In their own words;
“This was a false alarm with good intent.  Once again we would like to thank those members of the public who reported it and would encourage anyone with concerns on our coastline to make the call just in case.  Now it’s time to go back to our Christmas dinner.”


What the member of the public spotted

The Whitehaven team carrying out a search on Christmas Day

The marker buoy 


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