Cornwall: Sand Message Saves Sailors

24 July 2013, 08:57 | Updated: 13 August 2013, 15:05

A cliff top walker spotted a written message in the sand saying "send for help" and raised the alarm.

It's after a group of 4 adults and 3 children had become trapped on a North Cornwall beach after they went for a picnic. 

They had travelled around Stepper Point to a beach at Butter Hole in a small dinghy and rigid inflatable boat. 

Conditions were perfect until the tide flooded and waves increased - leaving the group trapped on the beach by the two-metre high onshore swell. 

They did not have radio or mobile phone reception so wrote "send for help'' in the sand. 

Volunteers from Rock RNLI launched at 3.21pm on Tuesday, with the coastguard team from Padstow and the Padstow RNLI all-weather lifeboat later called to help. 

When the lifeboat team arrived, the swell was two metres high and dumping on to the beach. 

Neil Davis, who was on the helm of the D class inshore lifeboat, managed to get colleague Leon Burt onshore to help transfer the children to the boat. 

The crew managed to get one of the adults and the three youngsters on-board before transferring them to a nearby tripping boat, the Ocean Voyager. 

They then returned to rescue the three remaining adults, who were transferred to the Padstow RNLI all-weather lifeboat. 

The group were then taken back in to Padstow, while the Rock RNLI team recovered their Wayfarer dingy and small boat.