It was the first Call Out of 2025 for Kippford RNLI The volunteers at Kippford RNLI were paged just after 2.30pm on Sunday 16th February by the Coastguard to assist with a rescue in the Balcary Bay area.
Just as many of the crew were thinking about enjoying a Sunday lunch the pagers sounded for the first time this year. The volunteers quickly assembled at the lifeboat station and were tasked to an incident in the Balcary Bay area.
Initial reports suggested that a person had fallen from the cliff and the Kippford inshore lifeboat Ronnie Sinclair was requested to attend the scene and determine if a rescue from the sea was possible. It was soon established that the person was uninjured but unable to move up or down from their position.
The lifeboat crew were joined by Police Scotland and Coastguard teams from Kirkcudbright, Portling and Portpatrick on the clifftop. As the Coastguard volunteers assessed the options for a rope rescue they were informed that a Coastguard helicopter was less than ten minutes from the location and was being diverted to help.
The sea state on scene was moderate with swells of up to 3m making access to the base of the cliff tricky. The lifeboat was able to communicate verbally with the casualty and provide reassurance that help was on the way. The crew then stood by ready to provide further assistance if required.
Rescue 936 arrived on scene and was able to winch the casualty from their position to a place of safety on the clifftop. Thankfully they were unharmed and able to speak to the Coastguard teams on scene.
The Kippford lifeboat then returned to station where the shore crew washed down and refuelled the boat ready for the next service.
Kippford lifeboat helm, Mitch Panteli, said: ‘This was a great example of how different search and rescue agencies work together for a successful outcome. We train regularly with our neighbouring Coastguard team and it was great that we could provide backup and reassurance during this incident whilst the Coastguard team carried out the rescue.’
