Hundreds visit station for Wicklow RNLI Open Day
AROUND 500 people attended the annual Wicklow lifeboat Open day which took place on Sunday.
Throughout the day visitors were given guided tours of the station and a chance to see the two lifeboats up close.
The RNLI Sea Safety team were busy promoting safety at sea and organising free life jacket inspections while the fundraising branch provided light refreshments and sold souvenirs in the lifeboat shop.
There was plenty to see and do with demonstrations and displays by the Coast Guard, Wicklow Fire Service, Wicklow Ambulance Service and Wick- low First Responders. A highlight of the afternoon was the visual display on the dangers of chip pan fires by the fire service.
The former Wicklow lifeboat JW Archer also attracted a lot of attention. The vessel, which is now privately owned by Hugh Searle, served at Wicklow from 1956 until 1987.
The newly-crowned 2017 Wicklow Regatta Festival Queen, Rebecca Canavan, called in during the afternoon for a tour of the lifeboats.
The open day was the culmination of a very busy weekend for the lifeboat volunteers. On Saturday, the crew called to Greystones for a local fund- raising event. Later the same afternoon the inshore lifeboat crew launched and, along with the Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 116 and in challenging conditions, brought three people to safety after they got into difficulties at Silver Strand beach.
Speaking at the open day, the station’s Operations Manager Des Davitt expressed his thanks ‘ to the hundreds of people who came along despite the changeable weather to support us.
‘I would like to say thank you to the local Emergency Services and all our volunteers for making the event such a great success,’ he said.