Unrecorded Rescues

tidclacy

tidclacy

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Having yesterday rescued a man after he fell in the water from a rowing dinghy and having done this twice before in the past. I was wondering how often this happens and goes unrecorded.
Anybody had a similar experience?
 
In nearly half a century, I can only record having 'rescued' a dinghy sailor on the Haringvliet whose boat had capsized and filled. I have heard of a few others, one serious and the others less so. I assume that I either carry luck with me or am very unobservant.
 
Last year, I overturned my dinghy at the pontoon in the marina. I was rescued by others on the pontoon; my wife was unable to help me get out of the water. I'm sure such events aren't at all uncommon; they only become a drama when no-one's around to hear calls for help!

While at sea I have sometimes kept an eye on dinghies or other small craft that looked like they were pushing the boundaries, or looked as if they were struggling. But I've never needed to intervene.
 
I tend to keep an eye out for sailboarders, especially when it is windy and rough. I can imagine that there may be times when they have been knocked down far from shore, and have tired and lost the strength to get back on the board again.

Having said that, I have not had to rescue one yet.
 
tidclacy said:
Having yesterday rescued a man after he fell in the water from a rowing dinghy and having done this twice before in the past. I was wondering how often this happens and goes unrecorded.
Anybody had a similar experience?
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Well done! Yes, have had experiences too. Surely it is what we should all do, help each other, but obviously considering that:
1) we don't put ourselves at risk and becoming a second casualty.
2) we may be delaying calling the Coastguard by attempting a rescue.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
I sailed by a bloke on a broken down jet ski last year.

I thought about helping him out but quickly decided he was more likely to be in the middle of having a 'really bad day' than actually being 'about to die'.

Also he needed some time to reconsider his actions near my mooring earlier that day.
 
xyachtdave said:
I sailed by a bloke on a broken down jet ski last year.

I thought about helping him out but quickly decided he was more likely to be in the middle of having a 'really bad day' than actually being 'about to die'.

Also he needed some time to reconsider his actions near my mooring earlier that day.
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Hope your wash soaked him and made him rock violently. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
xyachtdave said:
I sailed by a bloke on a broken down jet ski last year.

I thought about helping him out but quickly decided he was more likely to be in the middle of having a 'really bad day' than actually being 'about to die'.

Also he needed some time to reconsider his actions near my mooring earlier that day.
Click to expand...

A couple of weeks ago, a lifeboat on the Thames Estuary rescued a jet skier in one of the shipping lanes, 9 miles offshore.

He'd broken down just off the beach, but had been drifting for several hours, and was reported by an outbound ship just before it got dark.

As he was only wearing shorts and a bouyancy aid he was quite chilly!
 
Juan Twothree said:
A couple of weeks ago, a lifeboat on the Thames Estuary rescued a jet skier in one of the shipping lanes, 9 miles offshore.

He'd broken down just off the beach, but had been drifting for several hours, and was reported by an outbound ship just before it got dark.

As he was only wearing shorts and a bouyancy aid he was quite chilly!
Click to expand...


As a recently departed Sargent Major used to say OH Dear ...............What a Shame......................Never mind!!!!

Unc
 
Spend my life rescuing others when in a RIB.

Since allowed back on water this year...took two guys off a motorboat that ran aground after engine overheated.

One chap went aground while making tea down below so towed him off.

Yesterday towed a couple on a yacht in from Harwich to Pin Mill who couldn’t get their engine to start.
 
The question is what should be recorded? (Or perhaps more specifically why, and by whom)?

If someone helps out another boater by pulling them off the putty to save them few hours aground, or helps fend their boat off the pontoon to avoid some dents or scratches? If some helps avoid potential loss of boat when life wasn't at great risk? Or only when life is at risk? How does it count if you're kayaking or dinghy racing, where capsize is an expected part of the game?

I've rescued a family in a small motorboat with a failed engine at night, at imminent risk of being taken by the tide over uncovering nasties that could well have sunk them. Towed them to a marina. Tried to report it to coastguard by VHF, but didn't have enough puff left in my battery (outboard charged) to get through.

Rescued a chap who was very close to drowning, having fallen drunk into a marina at night and been unable to get out or attract attention for a very long time. I managed to call other help, while I held his head out of the water, to get him out of the water, indoors and into dry clothes, and call an ambulance.

Pulled a few boats off the mud, and had same done to me once by a marina workboat. Was also on friend's becalmed sailing boat that was towed in by the lifeboat, somewhat against our wishes (we didn't consider ourselves in danger), following an engine failure.
 
I bagged a brace of jetskis broken down off Teignmouth, next stop would have been somewhere around Dieppe. No real thanks from them, just a grumble that I couldn't return them to their launching point. They presumably had no clue of the danger they were in.

I was glad I'd made them sit on their craft during the two-hour tow!
 
LittleSister said:
Was also on friend's becalmed sailing boat that was towed in by the lifeboat, somewhat against our wishes (we didn't consider ourselves in danger), following an engine failure.
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So who called out the lifeboat? Or did your friend call the CG, and they tasked the lifeboat against his wishes?
 
WF36 said:
Spend my life rescuing others when in a RIB.

Since allowed back on water this year...took two guys off a motorboat that ran aground after engine overheated.

One chap went aground while making tea down below so towed him off.

Yesterday towed a couple on a yacht in from Harwich to Pin Mill who couldn’t get their engine to start.
Click to expand...
Always thanks me off when I hear this. What do they think those big expensive white flappy things are for ?
 
Gitane said:
I tend to keep an eye out for sailboarders, especially when it is windy and rough. I can imagine that there may be times when they have been knocked down far from shore, and have tired and lost the strength to get back on the board again.

Having said that, I have not had to rescue one yet.
Click to expand...

As an avid windsurfer, i can tell you that your fears are going to be mostly unfounded.

The skill level required to get more than a few feet from shore in "windy and rough" conditions is high enough that it's unlikely they will need rescue.

Most good windsurfers are pretty fit, and when you are doing it right.., you shouldn't get overly fatigued.

one exception might be when the wind is blowing offshore - in that situation it takes almost no skill to get pretty far out...

the other case where a windsurfer might need rescue is a gear failure - most failures can be dealt with well enough to get home, especially if the wind has an onshore component, but there might be cases where rescue is welcomed.

Nevertheless, thanks for keeping an eye out....
 
Ungrateful people reminds me of a recorded rescue we were involved in in Janury 1966 when we rescued 5 fishermen from an upturned 12ft dinghy off Sheerness. After getting them out of the water, they were transferred to a Lifeboat from Southend so a helcopter could take them to hospital. The only comment we got from the men we saved was "Did we recover their dinghy?" No a word of thanks for saving their lives.
 
Juan Twothree said:
So who called out the lifeboat? Or did your friend call the CG, and they tasked the lifeboat against his wishes?
Click to expand...

The latter. I think the skipper could have made his intentions/wishes clearer. The CG presumably thought 'get them in before they end up in a pickle'.

I've just remembered another rescue I was involved in - an upturned narrowboat with people trapped inside. I was helming a sailing club rescue boat nearby and was first on the scene, having half-expected the accident (drunk crew on the roof rocking the boat wildly). Colleagues called the emergency services, and the fire brigade used the rescue boat with me at the helm as a platform so they could cut a hole in the bottom of the hull using a gas torch.

I actually disagreed with that proposed rescue technique, as I believed that there was a risk that the vessel, which was still floating because of the air trapped inside the upturned hull, could sink as soon as they'd opened a hole. (I thought the vessel could easily be rolled upright again, or lifted one end, in the adjacent lock.) The arrival of the fire brigade and them taking control was, though, a relief, as prior to that there were dozens of people, some from a nearby pub, running around screaming and shouting contradictory instructions.
 
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