Two shouts in 15 minutes for Penlee RNLI at Marazion and Mullion

The crew barely had time to tie up. Penlee’s inshore lifeboat was arriving back at the Newlyn pontoons on Sunday afternoon when the pagers went off for a second time, sending the volunteers straight back out to a second incident more than 20 miles down the coast.

Nine cut off by the tide at Chapel Rock

Falmouth Coastguard first tasked Penlee RNLI just before 2pm on 12 July 2026, after nine people were cut off by the tide at Chapel Rock on Marazion beach.

The inshore lifeboat ‘Mollie and Ivor Dent’ launched immediately, with Helm Will Treneer in command and a crew of three RNLI volunteers on board.

By the time the lifeboat reached the scene, one of the St Michael’s Mount ferry boats had already picked up the casualties and was bringing them back ashore. The lifeboat was stood down and turned for Newlyn.

Then a paddle boarder blown offshore at Church Cove

It was 2:15pm when the pagers sounded again. Falmouth Coastguard tasked the crew to a paddle boarder being blown offshore at Church Cove near Mullion, the same spot as the previous day’s incident.

The inshore lifeboat relaunched. During the passage the crew requested that the All-Weather Lifeboat ‘Ivan Ellen’ attend as well, but as they did so Falmouth Coastguard passed on an update: the paddle boarder had made it ashore under their own steam.

The inshore lifeboat turned back at the halfway point and returned to station.

Clear skies, and an easterly blowing off the beach

Conditions were the same for both shouts. Clear sky, good visibility, and an easterly wind at force 5.

That easterly is the detail worth holding on to. On a south-facing beach like Church Cove, an offshore breeze feels flat and friendly from the sand, right up until you are sitting on a board and the shore starts getting smaller.

📷File photo of both Penlee Lifeboats - Credit: RNLI/Philip Monckton