West Mersea RNLI tasked to a casualty in a drifting life raft

Looking for some solitude afloat, a gentleman from London bought a six-man life raft on Ebay. His plan was to take the train to the coast, walk to the beach, deploy his life raft and drift for two days for some “peace and quiet”.

Carrying a rucksack and his life raft he took the train to Southminster, then walked to Bradwell-on-Sea. After inflating his raft on the beach, thinking he could drift out with the tide and back in with the next, he cast himself off and out to sea.

Owing to the windy weather, the gentleman soon found himself drifting further and further offshore. He had a small anchor with him but this failed to hold. Realising he was in trouble, he used his mobile phone to call for help.

The lifeboat was sent to the rescue and the volunteer crew soon found the casualty drifting off the Dengie Peninsular. After taking him onboard and deflating his life raft the casualty was brought back to Bradwell marina, warmed up and handed over to the Coastguard team for some safety advice.

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For more information please contact Leafy Dumas, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on: 01206 386507 or 07761 303597. Or email: www.leafydumas.co.uk

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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.

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