RNLI St Davids Lifeboat

01/09/2026

🐻 This Year’s Name The Bear Fundraiser! 🐻

We’re delighted to share that this year’s Name The Bear Fundraiser was completed this week, raising a fantastic £268.00 more than last year! 🎉👏

Our bear has now officially been named Ramsey 🐻❤️ and will be making his way to his new home this week.

Ramsey’s new owner is a young lad in Wolverhampton, who is eagerly looking forward to his arrival! 😊

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the fundraiser and helped make it such a success. Your generosity is very much appreciated! ❤️

Safe travels, Ramsey — enjoy your new home! 🐻🏡

01/09/2026

St David’s RNLI volunteer crew spent many hours supporting a multi-agency search coordinated by HM Coastguard from Sunday 30 – Monday 31 August, following reports of a missing swimmer at Marloes Sands.

We would like to thank everyone involved in the search effort. Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of the missing person.

31/08/2026

We are at St David’s Carnival today 🎡

Find our stall at St David’s Rugby Club from 12-4.

Our shop at the station will also be open this week on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11am-4pm.

25/08/2026

Don’t forget to tune in to BBC2 at 8pm this evening to see our crew on Saving Lives at Sea! 🌊

We are featuring on Saving Lives at Sea! 🌊

Tune in to BBC2 next Tuesday at 8pm to hear about a rescue of a mother and daughter on a paddleboard from Will, Mike and Jemeima.

We’re thrilled to appear on the series and showcase the incredible work of our volunteers.

Set your reminders ⏰

📸 Victoria Tooley/Blast Films

RNLI Blast Films

23/08/2026

On Wednesday 19 August, we were tasked to reports of a kayaker in difficulty in Whitesands Bay.

Shortly after launching we were stood down and returned to station.

We’d like to remind the public that if you see anyone in difficulty at the coast, to call 999 and ask for the coastguard.

We’d always rather be tasked and stood down, than not tasked at all.

RNLI lifeguards are patrolling beaches all around the coast until the end of the summer holidays.

If you’re planning a dip, choose a lifeguarded beach and swim between the red and yellow flags 💙

19/08/2026

We are featuring on Saving Lives at Sea! 🌊

Tune in to BBC2 next Tuesday at 8pm to hear about a rescue of a mother and daughter on a paddleboard from Will, Mike and Jemeima.

We’re thrilled to appear on the series and showcase the incredible work of our volunteers.

Set your reminders ⏰

📸 Victoria Tooley/Blast Films

RNLI Blast Films

15/08/2026

On Friday 14 August, St David’s All-Weather Lifeboat was tasked to reports of kayaks lost in the fog in Ramsay sound.

The ALB launched and proceeded north towards St David’s Head in poor visibility.

The D class Inshore Lifeboat tasked to assist with the search.

The casualties had managed to call a shore-side contact who relayed information to the coastguard.

Milford Haven Coastguard coordinated the search, with our lifeboats, St David’s Coastguard and a Coastguard Rescue Helicopter also involved.

The kayakers were located off Abereiddy which was 5.5 miles from where they’d planned to be.

Both were helped aboard the lifeboat and safely returned to the lifeboat station.

Both of our lifeboats were back on service by 10am.

Mike Phillips RNLI Duty Coxswain said: ‘Despite being lost, the kayakers stayed together which made spotting them in the fog slightly easier for our crew.

‘We encourage everyone heading to the coast to check the tide times and weather forecast. Sea mist can come in quickly and catch you out, so it’s important to carry a means of calling for help in a waterproof pouch.

‘If you get into trouble at sea, call 999 or 112 and ask for the coastguard.’

This shout was crew member Ross Gurney’s first aboard our All-Weather Lifeboat. Congratulations Ross 🙌

15/08/2026

We had perfect conditions and a fantastic turnout for our annual summer visit to Solva Quay! ☀️🌊

A huge thank you to everyone who came along to see us, have a chat, and show their support. It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces, as well as plenty of new ones, enjoying the day with us. 💙

Thanks to your generosity, we raised a little over £130 through collections, as well as taking an amazing £470 through our pop-up shop. Every donation and purchase helps support the RNLI and the lifesaving work of our volunteer crews, so we really are grateful to everyone who contributed.

We’d also like to apologise for the technical issues we experienced with our card reader, which unfortunately caused some delays at the stall. Thank you to everyone for bearing with us and for your patience while we worked through the problem.

We also appreciate everyone’s patience with the later-than-planned arrival of the Tamar lifeboat at the quay. We know many of you were eagerly waiting to see her, and we’re grateful that you stuck around and gave her such a warm welcome when she arrived.

Events like this wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of our crew, fundraisers and volunteers, both on the day and behind the scenes. A huge thank you to everyone involved in making the visit happen.

Most importantly, thank you to the community and everyone who came along for your patience, generosity and continued support. It was wonderful to see Solva Quay so busy, and we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did! 💙⚓

15/08/2026

🎉 Celebrating 30 years of service 🎉

Crew member Robin Copley is celebrating an incredible 30 years of service at St David’s Lifeboat Station.

Over three decades, Robin has responded to an estimated 500 shouts, dedicating countless hours to training and saving lives at sea. Today, he serves as Coxswain of our Tamar class all-weather lifeboat, having also served as Helm on our D class inshore lifeboat.

During his service, Robin has received a Director’s Letter following a D class search for a woman off Porthgain, as well as Vellum Certificates for services involving Blackfriars, Western Belle and Yves Marie Amil.

Reflecting on the milestone, Robin said:

“It only seems like yesterday when I signed up to join the crew at St David’s, and now 30 years have flashed by.

“The lifeboat service has changed quite a bit in that time, but some things remain the same — like the unfaltering commitment of the volunteers who selflessly give their time.”

One memory from early in Robin’s service has particularly stayed with him. On a stormy Christmas morning, he received a call from the Coxswain asking him to come to the station as the lifeboat was being placed on standby. The French fishing vessel Toul an Trez had gone missing overnight.

The vessel had sunk in violent conditions on Christmas Eve 1997, with all five fishermen tragically losing their lives — an experience that brought home the seriousness of what lifeboat volunteers do.

Robin added: “It’s been a pleasure volunteering alongside all the various people who have supported St David’s Lifeboat Station over the years, and I look forward to continuing my service for as long as I am able.”

Congratulations Robin, and thank you for everything you have given — and continue to give — to St David’s RNLI. 💙

12/08/2026

Last night (Tuesday August 11th) both of St Davids lifeboats were requested for service to two simultaneous incidents.

The initial tasking was for reports of people cut off by the tide at Caerfai. Almost immediately after, a second tasking came in for an injured fisherman on the rocks near Porthclais Harbour.

The All-Weather lifeboat (ALB) launched first and proceeded to help the injured fisherman. The Inshore lifeboat (ILB) deployed immediately after and headed towards Caerfai Bay.

The ALB was quickly on scene and using the daughter boat, deployed crew ashore to support the injured fisherman with first aid.

The ILB shortly after arrived on scene at Caerfai Bay. It was quickly determined that all people were safe and well in Caerfai and that the call out was deemed a tasking with good intentions.

After that the ILB diverted the short distance down the coast to support the ALB crew with the injured fisherman. There were three people in the party and the ILB recovered two of the casualties into Porthclais before returning for the injured fisherman who had a significant head injury.

The casualty was handed over to West Wales Ambulance Service who had arrived in Porthclais Harbour.

With casualty safely handed over to the ambulance crew, both assets were stood down and returned to station.

Support for both incidents was provided by St David’s Coastguard Cliff Rescue Team.

Thanks to all teams involved for their support in the incident.

🎥 Tamar and D class launching: Mike Phillips.

RNLI