ILB D533 ‘PETER CORNISH’ launched at 1320 hrs to investigate a report of an inflatable dinghy blowing offshore from the beach between Aldwick and Bognor Regis with a mother and her young son aboard.
The ILB arrived on scene at 1331 hrs and started searching for the casualty. At 1337 hrs a possible sighting of the dinghy was reported and at 1340 hrs the ILB was alongside the casualty. A 14 foot speedboat was in company with the inflatable and had launched at the same time as the dinghy, in fact they were all together as a family. The first informant who reported the dinghy blowing offshore had been unaware of this. At this point the incident was deemed to be a false alarm with good intent.
At 1349 hrs after confirming there was nothing more untoward Solent Coastguard released the ILB to return to station, arriving back at 1405 hrs and recovering straight away. Ready for service 1430 hrs.
CREW: Robert Archibald (Helmsman), Dave Lamdin, Peter Delahunty.
WIND: North West F4-5. SEA: Slight. WEATHER: Sunny.