[T]he volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow station launched both their lifeboats this afternoon, Friday 19 May 2017, after reports of a man in the water.
The request to launch the Lifeboat came from HM Coastguard at Holyhead at 4:50pm.
The information received was that a man had been seen in the water off Lowsy Point and that he was trying to rescue his dog which had become stranded on a sandbank by the incoming tide.
The area, known locally as the Black Huts, is on the west side of Roanhead beach, opposite the northern tip of Walney Island.
The inshore lifeboat crew were paged and the Vision of Tamworth was launched at 5pm, with Andy Baxter at the helm assisted by Paul Wilcock.
Due to the tidal conditions, and lack of water in Walney Channel the safest route to the scene was via the west side of Walney Island.
The decision was taken to also launch the all-weather lifeboat, Grace Dixon.
The crew were paged and the lifeboat was launched at 5:10pm under the command of Coxswain Jonny Long with five crew on board.
Both vessels were on passage to the scene when the Coastguard radioed to say that the man had recovered his dog and that both were safely on the shore.
Consequently, both lifeboats and Furness Coastguard, who also attended the incident, were stood down.
High water was at 6:23pm with a predicted height of 7.2 metres.
The Grace Dixon and Vision of Tamworth were both back at the Lifeboat station at 5:40pm where they were made ready for the next launch.
