alant
Well-Known Member
The video in the report linked by the OP does show LV accepting a tow from the lifeboat.
That said, the conditions in the video don't look that bad at all. Not a pleasure cruise, but I didn't see the hull disappear behind the next wave at any stage in that clip. The boat is being manouvred quite quickly, so there doesn't seem to be any real reason why they couldn't make Ramsgate on their own.
However, I think there was something at the time about the wheel being bent and they did put out a mayday.
Which raises another question, if they hadn't put out a mayday and had made port anyway, would there have been a prosecution?
Once around the corner from Dover, the seas would have been much reduced.