History

Saving the lives of those who were in trouble on the sea, before lifeboats were introduced, fell to the longshoremen and fisherman along the coasts of the Isle of Wight.  Prior to this it was the coastguards who would attempt to rescue those who came to grief off the Island’s shores.

Here is a list of our Lifeboat Stations on the Island.

• Bembridge
  located at the eastern end of the Isle of Wight, adjacent to the infamous Bembridge Ledge
• Yarmouth
  Covering the western end of the Solent, Yarmouth Lifeboat Station operates the largest class of lifeboat, the Severn class. 17 awards for gallantry have been presented to the crew.
• Cowes
  Cowes Inshore Lifeboat was sited in a purpose built floating air berth.   The RNLI has taken this over, modified the air berth and the latest designed Atlantic 85 now sits resplendent ready for service.
• Ryde Inshore Rescue
  The formation of the Ryde Sea Rescue Scheme, run principally by the Vectis Fishing Club using 12 ft dinghies powered by  small Seagull outboards from their base half way down the pier – itself the premises of the original Ryde Lifeboat station run by the RNLI until the early 1920’s., and the St John Ambulance Brigade. Originally formed as a beach voluntary lifeguard unit in 1956 following a double drowning fatality at the end of Ryde pier. We first operated from the western sands at Ryde with a reel & line and a small rowing dinghy.
• Freshwater Lifeboats
  Freshwater Independent Lifeboat operates 2 boats 24/7 in an area up to 30M off shore from Hurst Point to St Catherine’s point on the Isle of Wight. Entirely independent we rely on donations and fundraising by our volunteers to run this service.