The RNLI yesterday launched a kayaking safety campaign, urging coastal kayakers to always carry a means of calling for help and, most importantly, to keep it on them at all times while at sea.

From 2011 to 2015, 18 kayakers have lost their lives.

A study carried out, on behalf of the RNLI, in 2013 showed that of those kayakers who lost their lives on the coast in 2010-13 none of them was able to call the emergency services using a mobile phone or radio.

The number of near-fatal incidents during that time was even higher, with the RNLI’s lifeboat crews launching 1,603 times to kayakers and canoeists, rescuing 965 people and saving 163 lives.

The safety campaign advises kayakers to keep a means of calling for help on them at all times. Examples of this include a mobile phone in a waterproof case, a VHF radio or Personal Locator Beacon (PLB).

The campaign is also reminding kayakers to wear a personal floatation device; check weather and tides before they go out; tell someone where they are going and when they expect to be back, and get the appropriate training.