Bude’s canal turns into a sea of rubber ducks for Lifeboat Day

By mid-afternoon the Bude Canal had stopped looking like a canal at all. Thousands of rubber ducks covered the water from bank to bank, a man in a full duck costume stood watching from the grass, and a line of Bude RNLI crew in yellow drysuits waded in behind them to shepherd the lot back to shore. This was Bude Lifeboat Day 2026, and the town turned out for it in force.

A soaking start on the water

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

Crowds lined both banks of the canal from early in the afternoon, phones out, waiting for the main event. A boat flying a skull and crossbones took up position as the unofficial starting line, and bag after bag of ducks went into the water on the signal, quickly turning the canal into a solid raft of colour.

Getting them all back out again was its own spectacle. RNLI crew waded out chest deep with laundry baskets, scooping up handfuls of ducks at a time while the crowd cheered on whichever coloured duck was leading the field. Two crew members swam the length of the course rounding up stragglers that had drifted off from the main pack.

More than just ducks

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

The duck race was the headline act, but it was far from the only thing going on. Kayaks lined up for their own races along the canal, watched by families sat along the harbour wall. Down at the lifeboat station, the tracked ST07 vehicle was on display alongside one of the inshore boats, drawing a steady crowd of its own.

Along the beach, crew waded out through the surf near the sea pool for a demonstration, walking the old railings out into the waves as onlookers watched from the wall above. Younger visitors had their own dig for buried treasure on the sand, a hand-painted sign warning it would cost £2 to have a go.

The people who make it happen

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

A day on this scale takes months to put together, and Bude RNLI used the occasion to thank the people behind it. Fundraising volunteers had spent months on the planning and organisation before anyone set foot near the canal. Crew and event volunteers gave up their day to keep everything running once it started, and local sponsors provided the financial and logistical backing that made the event possible in the first place.

Above all, the station thanked the people of Bude and the visitors who came along, watched, and dug into their pockets for it.

Ready for whatever comes next

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

None of it is just for show. Every pound raised on the day goes towards keeping the volunteer crew equipped and trained, so the station “remains ready to launch when the call comes,” as Bude RNLI put it. For a station that has been watching over this stretch of coast since 1837, that is the whole point of the day.

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat

📷Credit: Bude RNLI Lifeboat