Portrush Lifeboat crew rescue kayaker off coast

The volunteer lifeboat crew responded to an early call out on Sunday morning, February 17, to the kayaker who got into trouble on the water at West Bay.

There were strong southerly winds at time which caused a swell.

The kayak capsized and was whipped by the prevailing wind into the harbour area, leaving the kayaker stranded and treading water.

A Portrush lifeboat crew member who witnessed the scene on the West Strand spotted the incident and promptly raised the alarm.

The inshore lifeboat crew including Mark Mitchell as helm, Andy McClelland and Stevie Ritchie launched within minutes and had the kayaker back at base within 20 minutes.

Robin Cardwell, Portrush RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said:

“The kayaker was very fortunate as the winds were quite strong in the West Bay. Our volunteer crew launched quickly and was able to bring him back to shore safely’.