Cowes Lifeboat Station
Cowes Lifeboat Station is in the old Customs House at the end of Watch House Lane in Cowes, on the northern tip of the Isle of Wight. Its fast inshore lifeboat covers the crowded waters of the Solent, home to some of the busiest yachting in the world, including Cowes Week every August.
History
The station began in 1989 as the independent Cowes Inshore Lifeboat, run by volunteers from a base at Shepards Wharf as part of the Solent Sea-Rescue Organisation. As the number of boats and calls grew, the RNLI took over the station in 2008 and moved it to the old Customs House on the Parade. Since 2012 it has operated an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat, Sheena Louise.
Visiting
The station is on the waterfront at the Parade, close to the Royal Yacht Squadron’s castle, the floating bridge to East Cowes and the town’s sailing shops and pubs.
About island lifeboat stations
All lifeboat stations →On islands, the lifeboat is often the only help that can reach someone in trouble at sea, and island lifeboat crews cover some of the most exposed waters around Britain and Ireland. Here you will find the lifeboat stations on the islands we cover, with their history and the boats they launch.
