TWO kayakers had to be rescued from a rough sea by Dart and Torbay RNLI last Sunday morning. One kayaker had been in the water for nearly an hour.

And other members of their group had to be winched to safety by the coastguard helicopter from an inaccessible beach where they’d taken shelter.

A spokesperson for Dart RNLI said a party of seven kayakers had been camping on a beach near Scabbacombe Head, between Dartmouth and Berry Head.

They said: “Their party of seven became five when two became too tired to return to the camping beach. On waking the next morning to rough seas and winds gusting to force six on the Beaufort Wind Scale, they wanted to abort but had no option but to head back to the first beach to be reunited with the other two kayakers. This is when they got into difficulty.

“One member of the party capsized and was in the water for about 45 minutes being pummelled by the waves. Another went to his rescue, but she too capsized and spent some time in the water.”

The Atlantic 85 Dart RNLI Lifeboat lifted the kayakers on board and transferred them to the Seven class Torbay RNLI all weather lifeboat, who brought them ashore to the town pontoon at Dartmouth.

The spokesperson added: “They were taken to the lifeboat station where they were examined by paramedics and given some warm clothes and hot drinks. The Dart D class lifeboat went close to the shore in very difficult sea conditions to confirm the remaining kayakers were unharmed.

“Other members of the party were lifted from the small cove by the Coastguard SAR helicopter to a place where they could be rescued by the shore-based coastguard search and rescue team and returned by road to Dartmouth.” Dartmouth Coastguards said on their arrival both Dart RNLI Lifeboats and RNLITorbay lifeboat were already in attendance and had two casualties on board and around the same time the Coastguard SAR Helicopter arrived.

They said three of the group were in the vicinity of Scabbacombe Beach, where they’d been assisted by the lifeboats. At one point a member of the group was missing but she made her own way back to Scabbacombe beach where she was identified but not “rescued”.

Dartmouth Coastguards said four of the kayakers had sought shelter in the inaccessible Ivy Cove further west along the coast and had to be winched to safety by helicopter.

A Coastguard spokesperson said: “This cove is inaccessible without rope rescue equipment or a boat, below steep cliffs. The swell made things difficult for the lifeboats and they were unable to recover the kayakers safely. But they remained on scene until the kayakers were safely recovered and on dry land.

“The helicopter winched them safely up and off the beach. They were then landed in a field above the cove where we’d created a landing zone. They were checked over and didn’t require any casualty care. They made arrangements for the kayaks to be recovered when the winds abated.”

The four rescued by helicopter were returned to Dartmouth by road by the shore-based coastguard search and rescue team.

The coastguard spokesperson stressed there are a number of weather apps available, some better than others, but the shipping forecast is prepared for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency by the Met Office so is from a reliable source.