Chiswick RNLI Lifeboat has rescued an eight-month old baby and five adults from a boat which became pinned against Richmond Weir by the tide.

The incident happened on Sunday afternoon (July 15) when the London Coastguard requested Chiswick RNLI Lifeboat to launch following reports of a power boat in difficulty at Richmond Weir. The Richmond Lock had to be opened so that the lifeboat could rapidly proceed to the upstream side of the weir.

Teddington RNLI Lifeboat arrived on the scene , but as it has only a small inflatable, would not have been capable of taking all the people off the stricken vessel.

Crewman Mark Turrell reunites the baby with its mother

There was a strong ebb tide, swollen by heavy rainfall upstream at the time.

Chiswick Lifeboat then manoeuvred against the weir with its stern adjacent to the power
boat, now firmly wedged by a strong ebb tide . All five adults and an eight month old baby were then safely transferred on board Chiswick RNLI Lifeboat,which then landed them safely ashore.

The Lifeboat then returned to the weir and landed one of the Teddington crew on board the casualty vessel to attach a tow line. The vessel was then towed safely away from the weir and moored alongside the lock. After making sure the crew of the casualty vessel were unhurt they were then returned to their vessel which headed back to Teddington, escorted by Teddington RNLI Lifeboat.

Richmond Weir consists of steel barriers, which are raised for several hours either side of high tide, but are then lowered to retain water sufficient for navigation between Richmond and Teddington. There are signs and lights warning when these arches under the footbridge at Richmond Lock are impassable. If a vessel approaches too close the out-going tide can pin it tightly against the weir, as in this case, making it impossible to turn back.

Chiswick RNLI helmsman, Rob Archibald commented; “Our new Lifeboat E-08 proved its worth yesterday with plenty of space to take all six people on board and sufficient power to extricate the powerboat pinned against the weir by the tide. The lockkeeper was concerned that the strength of the outgoing current was starting to tip the powerboat. Fortunately, everyone was safely evacuated and no injuries were sustained during this incident”.

The RNLI has 233 lifeboat stations including four on the Thames. Chiswick RNLI lifeboat became
operational on the 2nd January 2002. Since then it has responded to over 2,000 emergency calls. The four Thames lifeboats together have responded to over 5,000 calls.

July 17, 2012