Warnings after family rescued from dinghy

Jun 10 2010 North Wales Weekly News

A MAN and his three young children had to be rescued by lifeboat crews after getting blown out to sea in their dinghy.

The family, who were not wearing life jackets, were pushed 500 metres away from the shore in Kinmel Bay.

The sea breeze blew the boat further out as the man tried to paddle back towards the beach.

The incident happened just after 2pm last Thursday near the Sunny Vale holiday camp.

Volunteers from Rhyl’s RNLI inshore lifeboat were sent out to rescue the day-trippers.

An RNLI spokesman said: “The man and his very young children had gone out in their dinghy without life jackets.

“The tide was ebbing and the sea breeze was pushing them further and further away.

“At one point, they were 500 metres from the beach. The father tried to get back to shore but soon got tired.

“We took them all back to the beach in the lifeboat.”

He added: “We would like to warn people to take extra care at the beach and in the sea as, despite the sunny weather, people tend to underestimate the power of the water and the breeze.”