Falmouth's volunteer lifeboat crew was called out twice on Bank Holiday Monday to assist two boats that had run aground.

The first call came at 5:12pm, when the lifeboat was tasked to help a 30-foot cruiser that had grounded at Sunny Corner, near Truro. The Coastguard Rescue Team and St Agnes Coastguard Search and Rescue Team were also called to the scene.

When the stations Atlantic 85 Robina Nixon Chard inshore lifeboat arrived, the Coastguard teams had already located the cruiser, which had one person on board.

The man was safe and had provisions, so he was happy to stay with his boat and wait for the tide to come in. However, the cruiser had damaged its rudder when it ran aground and would need assistance later when it refloated.

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While the lifeboat crew was waiting for the tide to come in, they were called to a second incident. This time a hire boat with six people on board had run aground about 200 meters from the shore.

The lifeboat was able to assist the Coastguard teams, who had deployed specialist mud rescue technicians, with the recovery of the casualties. Once aboard the lifeboat, the casualties were taken to Malpas in two trips and handed over to waiting Coastguard personnel.

With the six people safely ashore, the lifeboat was released from service at 6:47pm and returned to the station. The lifeboat was washed down and made ready for service again.

At 10:50pm, the pagers were activated again, and the lifeboat was launched at 11:07pm, tasked to assist with refloating the 30-foot cruiser that had run aground and damaged its rudder earlier at Sunny Corner.

Arriving on the scene at 11:35pm, the lifeboat crew established an alongside tow and manoeuvred the vessel off the mud bank and checked for damage and leaks.

It was then towed to a visitor’s pontoon at Malpas where the owner could fix his rudder and steering.

With the casualty and his vessel safely moored up, the lifeboat was released from service at 12:40am and returned to the station.

The lifeboat crew is made up of volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are trained to respond to a variety of incidents, including boat rescues, medical emergencies, and search and rescue operations.