Strong tides at the bend in the river catch out crew

Chiswick RNLI lifeboat crew rescued a rowing eight pinned by a strong tide against houseboats near Hammersmith Mall.

The RNLI were outside Harrods depository when they heard from a passing rowing of the incident at at Dove Pier last Saturday (May 21) When they arrived they found the vessel pinned by the tide against two houseboats. The flood tide was very strong and the rowers were unable to extricate themselves.

Helmsman Glen Monroe carefully manoeuvred the lifeboat close to the rowers, and with great skill kept the lifeboat in position, stemming the tide while getting close enough to the rowers to get them on board.

Glen commented: 'We have helped a number of crews in powered and unpowered craft getting caught out by the strong tide sweeping round this bend in the river. Our concern is that if anyone ends up in the water they could be swept underneath vessels on the pier and become trapped in the mooring chains or other underwater obstructions.

'We took great care not to disturb the rowers’ boat when we approached and managed to get them all on board the lifeboat without anyone getting their feet wet.'

Chiswick RNLI lifeboat is the second busiest in the UK and Ireland; since starting service in 2002, they have attended more than 2,900 incidents and rescued more than 1,500 people.You can follow the Chiswick lifeboat's work on Twitter

May 23, 2016