The month Looe RNLI’s pagers barely stopped sounding

Some months at a lifeboat station tick over quietly. August 2026 was not one of them. For the volunteer crew at Looe RNLI, pagers sounded so often, at every hour of the day and night, that by the time the month closed it had become the busiest the station has known since it was re-established back in June 1992.

A month like no other

Over the four weeks of August, Looe RNLI’s crews were called out to 20 separate incidents. Fourteen of those were sea based, which between them accounted for 17 launches of the station’s inshore lifeboats. The remaining six incidents played out on shore. On some days, volunteers found themselves barely back from one job before the next pager alert went off.

Kayakers, missing persons and an overdue sailor

The pattern behind the numbers tells its own story about the summer. Strong offshore winds repeatedly caught out kayakers and paddleboarders, pulling them further from the coast than they had planned, while others were cut off as the tide came in around them. Crews were also tasked to searches for missing persons and for an overdue sailor, on top of a run of medical incidents dealt with by both boat and shore teams.

Not every call came from out at sea. Crew members at the boathouse itself stepped in to help a woman who got into difficulty attempting to wade across the river at low tide, and on another occasion helped reunite a lost child with his parents.

‘I am extremely proud of the commitment shown’

Clive Palfrey, Looe RNLI‘s Lifeboat Operations Manager, said the month put the crew’s training to the test in the best possible way.

“August turned out to be exceptionally busy for the station’s volunteer crew, with days when one incident followed another in quick succession,” Clive said. “I am extremely proud of the commitment shown by all the crew, both long established and our newest volunteers, who responded in significant numbers to every shout, as well as continuing to attend our regular Wednesday training evenings.”

“They train hard during the year, and this training really paid off as they dealt with 8 varied medical incidents, a couple of shoreline searches, together with 6 shouts to people caught out by the strength of the offshore wind. I would also like to thank the families of our crew members, for their continued support, allowing our crew to save lives at sea.”

📷Looe RNLI's Atlantic 85 and D Class inshore lifeboats heading out into Looe bay. Credit: RNLI/Ian Foster