Rye Harbour Lifeboat B727, assists the Dutch Yacht 'Sneeuwgans'

Rye Harbour Lifeboat StationRye Harbour RNLI Lifeboat B727'Commander and Mrs Rodney Wells' was tasked by Dover Coastguard at 12.50 pm to go to the assistance of the Dutch yacht 'Sneeuwgans', a 9 metre yacht suffering from rudder problems. Lifeboat B727 arrived at the casualty, 1 mile South East of Rye Harbour entrance at 12.55 pm, and proceeded to escort the casualty to Harbour. At 1.26 pm the casualty was put along side the jetty at Rye Harbour.

The yacht 'Sneeuwgans' set sail from Kwintsheul, Holland, on passage to Rye Harbour. The yacht tried to enter the harbour too early and hit the sand bar in the mouth of the river. The skipper of the yacht decided to return to deeper water to assess the damage to the yacht. The yacht's steering, whilst damaged was not totally useless. Rye Harbour Lifeboat was all geared to undertake an emergency tow should things go wrong when the yacht 'Sneeuwgans' entered the harbour on the flood tide.

Richard Tollett, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager at Rye Harbour RNLI Lifeboat Station, said: 'The RNLI is a registered charity that saves lives at sea. It provides, on-call, a 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service to 100 nautical miles out from the coast of the United kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The RNLI which provides nine out of ten sea rescue launches, continues to rely on voluntary contributions and legacies for its income. If the tables were turned, the Dutch Lifeboat service would come to the aid of a UK registered yacht.'

Fundraising Treasurer at Rye Harbour, Sally Bayly is awarded the RNLI'S Bronze Badge

Sally Bayly, Fundraising Treasurer at Rye Harbour is awarded the RNLI's Bronze Badge Sally Bayly, the Fundraising Treasurer at Rye Harbour RNLI Lifeboat Station was presented with the RNLI's Bronze Badge by Peter Huxtable MBE, coxswain of Shoreham RNLI Lifeboat, on Saturday 20 June 2009 at the RNLI Lifeboat College at Poole in recognition of her individual services. Following the presentation, there was a tour of the Lifeboat College where Sally and the other awardees were able to see the training simulator and the training pool.

Sally joined the Rye Harbour and District Branch (formerly known as Rye, Winchelsea and District Branch) in November 2003 as the Branch Treasurer, a position that she held up until Wednesday 11 June 2008 when Rye Harbour and District Branch merged with Rye Harbour Station Branch when Sally became the Fundraising Treasurer for Rye Harbour Lifeboat Station.

Sally Bayly, Fundraising Treasurer for Rye Harbour RNLI Lifeboat Stations, said: 'I was suprised and chuffed to bits! I really felt quite honoured, actually. When I went to Poole, I was amazed to find out (even more than I knew already) how brave and self-sacrificing the RNLI Volunteer crews are.'

Peter Huxtable MBE, RNLI Coxswain for Shoreham RNLI Lifeboat, said: 'It was an honour to present the award. It was nice to meet Sally and the other volunteers who help raise the money, which enables the RNLI to continue saving lives at sea.'

Mrs Priscilla Ryan, President for Rye Harbour RNLI Lifeboat Station, said: 'I'm pleased that Sally has been awarded the RNLI's Bronze Badge in recognition of all that she does for the RNLI. Everyone at Rye Harbour Lifeboat Station, the members of the former Rye Harbour and District Branch and all of her friends in Rye send their congratulations on receiving this prestigious award.'

Photo: Copyright Mark Howell 2009 (Used with the kind permission of Mark Howell)

Angling Boat ' Anya' broken down 6.5 miles South East of Rye Harbour entrance

Rye Harbour RNLI Lifeboat B727 'Commander and Mrs Rodney Wells' launched on service at 5.14 pm to the angling boat 'Anya' which had broken down six and a half miles south east of Rye Harbour entrance. At 5.27 pm RNLI Lifeboat B727 arrived on scene and eight minutes later, had the angling boat 'Anya' in tow and were heading back to harbour.

The angling boat left harbour earlier in the day for a days angling, when it came to return to harbour they were unable to restart the boat - there was no spark to the engine. The skipper decided to call Dover Coastguard and request assistance.

Richard Tollett, RNLI Lifeboat Operation Manager for RNLI Lifeboat, said: 'It makes a change to go and rescue a fishing boat this time of year, as we would usually be out returning inflatables to the shore at Camber Sands. The RNLI is an independent charity reliant upon volunteers. Our lifeboat service is funded by voluntary donations not HM Government.'