Optimistic voyager and his dog rescued from leaking boat with no mast

A man who was trying to sail from Devon to Scotland without a mast, charts or radio has been winched to safety after the boat's motor failed. Just before midnight on Thursday, the Swansea Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre was contacted by the police who had received a call from a mariner, accompanied only by his dog, whose 17ft sailing boat had become stranded in the Bristol Channel, just south of Lundy Island, after the outboard motor failed.

Upon further investigation it was discovered that the vessel was one of the least seaworthy that Swansea Coastguards had encountered for some time: its hull was leaking, the mast was missing, with an old windsurfing rig serving as a poor substitute; the boat had no lights, no VHF radio – the sailor contacted the emergency services on a mobile phone – and his GPS device wasn’t working, so he was unable to give his position. The optimistic voyager, who had also neglected to carry any charts, informed Coastguards that he was en route to the Hebrides, having set out from Instow, North Devon.



Coastguards had to use onshore telecommunications beacons to estimate his position to within 30km. This enabled them to task the search and rescue helicopter from Chivenor who spent two hours searching for a boat in the dark with no lights on, and just after 4am on Friday the sailor and his canine companion were winched from the boat. RNLI’s Appledore lifeboat was tasked to recover the vessel from a position 2.5 miles SSW of Lundy so that it was no longer a danger to shipping in the busy Bristol Channel. The volunteer lifeboat crew returned to station at 9.15am, ready for a full day’s work.

Bernie Kemble, Swansea Coastguard Watch Officer, said: “So many things were wrong with this gentleman’s boat and lack of preparation that the situation was almost comical. He had taken to sea in what was effectively a leaky fibreglass hull, without even the most basic communications and safety equipment. Thankfully, weather conditions were calm, he was avoided by other vessels in the area and he was able to use the only piece of communications equipment he had to hand – his mobile phone – to raise the alarm. However, the situation could have been far more serious and he and his dog were lucky that they were rescued promptly.” The sailor and his dog were both reported to be unharmed by their ordeal.