Fleet Bay Inshore Rescue Service

01/06/2026

Eight days - five call outs for volunteers at Kirkcudbright RNLI

Two more call outs this weekend completed an exceptionally busy period for Kirkcudbright’s Lifeboat “Sheila Stenhouse” and her volunteer crew.

The volunteer crew was tasked at 8am on Sunday by HM Coastguard to respond to a Mayday Call.

They were sent, along with several other lifeboats, to assist a vessel taking in water near the Isle of Whithorn. En-route the crew were informed that the three persons on the damaged vessel had been taken on board by a local fishing vessel and safely taken to the Isle of Whithorn.

HM Coastguard requested a search for the vessel as Kirkcudbright’s lifeboat carries a salvage pump. However, apart from a strong smell of fuel nothing was found of the vessel. The RNLI Lifeboat along with Port William Inshore Lifeboat Pirsac III were then stood down and Kirkcudbright’s Sheila Stenhouse returned to its moorings on the river at Kirkcudbright and was refuelled.

Sunday’s rescue was after another Mayday call on Friday 29 May at 1.20pm when a report was received that a swimmer had possibly gone missing between Carrick and Sandgreen Beaches.

This triggered a search with Fleet Bay Inshore Rescue, Coastguard Helicopter Rescue from Prestwick, Coastguard Teams and the Police. A thorough search was carried out of the area for around 40 minutes until the person was located on land safe and well.

As the crew look forward to the opening of the new boathouse extension facility and a new boat arriving, the inshore lifeboat Sheila Stenhouse and her volunteer crew continues to serve the community 24/7 365 days a year. The last week has shown the variety of call outs that can occur and the crew continue to train for the tasks in hand.

As the summer approaches and with the recent good weather in mind it is always good to visit the RNLI site for advice and the RNLI are once again reminding us of the Float to Live message https://rnli.org/safety/float. The water can be a source of great fun and pleasure but the public are reminded always to take the advised precautions and care.

30/05/2026

This intrepid bunch set off this morning to cycle from Sandgreen to Berwick to raise funds for FBIRS and so far they’ve raised nearly £8,000.

It’s not too late to support them if you can - https://www.justgiving.com/team/sandgreencyclers?utm_medium=TE&utm_source=CL

We wish them a safe journey and pray that the wind is on their backs all the way.

From all at FBIRS - thank you!

29/05/2026

Today’s launch makes it 4 incidents in 7 days.

Today we were alerted by a member of the public to a swimmer who hadn’t returned to Carrick, so we launched and supported Kirkcudbright RNLI Lifeboat Station, SAR helicopter, Police and HM Coastguard Kirkcudbright Search and Rescue to search the coastline in a growing sea state until the search was called off and the missing person located.

Search was coordinated by Belfast Coastguard

All in all, a good outcome and good to work again with local search and rescue services.

28/05/2026

The last week has been a busy one in Fleet bay with 3 incidents.

On Saturday 23rd May Kirkcudbright RNLI Lifeboat Station attended Auchenlarie Holiday Park at SHG where a boat was in difficulty off the shore. Thankfully the boat and it's owner made it back to shore by the time the lifeboat arrived.

On the evening of 26th May, our crew helped an injured paddle-boarder from rocks back to the shore at Cardoness before he was taken to DGRI for treatment and a diagnosis of a fractured arm.

On Wednesday 27th May, numerous emergency services; Fire brigade, Ambulance, Police & Coastguard supported a young male back to the beach from the rocks at Mossyard.

An eventful week, but all with good outcomes and massive thanks go to all our emergency services & volunteers.

21/05/2026

This week was the turn of new crew member Will for familiarisation training of Fleet Bay and of the helm of the boat. We have a busy schedule of training and NGB courses over the coming months.

Also congratulations to Catherine who passed her Powerboat level 2 with flying colours at Nith Inshore Rescue last weekend.

A massive thanks to our new crew members and board of trustees for giving up your time to the service.

20/05/2026

Thank you to the team at Sandgreen Caravan Park for helping to raise money for FBIRS with this brilliant raffle. If you'd like to buy a strip, please get in touch with Sandgreen Caravan Park directly.

⭐⭐ONLY 10 RAFFLE STRIPS REMAINING!⭐⭐

Thank you so much to everyone who has bought raffle tickets so far - not long now until the draw!

There is still time to grab some tickets, so don't forget to pop into Reception - only £1.00 per strip. It would be amazing if we could sell the whole book of tickets, to raise money for such a worthy local cause. Raffle closes 30th May, winner to be drawn 31st May.

Raffle tickets are £1.00 per strip (5 chances to win!) and greeting cards are £3.00 each.

Fleet Bay Inshore Rescue Service Active at Sandgreen

08/05/2026

A mighty group from the Gatehouse community are cycling, coast to coast at the end of May to raise money for Fleet Bay Inshore Rescue Service. From Sandgreen to Berwick Upon Tweed. So far they've raised over £5,000, which is an amazing effort.
It's fair to say that some of the group aren't as young as they used to be and some are living with cancer, but despite this, they're out training week in week out in aid of FBIRS and we're hugely grateful.
The link below shows what they've raised so far and if you can support them in anyway or if you wish to join then, please do. David J McNicol is the person to contact.
https://www.justgiving.com/charity/fleetbayinshorerescueservice