St Davids lifeboat crew missed their Father’s Day Sunday lunches today, as members searched for a casualty off the St Davids Peninsula.
Both St Davids boats were launched shortly after 11.18am, along with a coastguard rescue helicopter.
St David’s and Broad Haven volunteer coastguard rescue teams and Newgale and Whitesands beach lifeguards were also involved in the search, which was called after a personal locator beacon (PLB) triggered off the St David’s peninsula.
PLBs are synced with satellites and send out an SOS signal to rescue agencies.
The lifeboat was tasked to search the area from Whitesands Bay to the Solva area. The crews conducted their search, making enquiries as they went with any other water users.
With nothing untoward found initially the boats continued to search from Solva back towards Ramsey sound.
The inshore lifeboat conducted an inshore sweep whilst the all-weather lifeboat covered further offshore west of Ramsey Island and north of St David’s head again with nothing found.
With several discrepancies around the PLB location data - alongside the fact that the lifeboat’s directional finding equipment failed to locate – the crew was stood down and return to station.
Both lifeboats rehoused at around 2.30pm.
“Thanks to all parties involved in today’s search, it was a real collaborative operation,” said a St Davids Lifeboat spokesperson.
“It’s likely to have been an accidental trigger or a faulty PLB which had been triggered ashore.
“Owners should register their PLB’s and check them regularly to ensure they are operating correctly. Further details on calling for help at sea can be found on our website https://rnli.org/safety/how-to-call-for-help-at-sea”
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