Found in time THE NIGHT OF JANUARY 11, 1987 W3S bitterly cold, with temperatures falling to minus 10°C along the south coast.

In Poole Harbour a north-easterly wind created a chill factor of minus 15°C or more, so that when reports of two fishermen missing in a small open boat reached local coastguards, theyimmediately alerted Poole lifeboat station and other emergency services to initiate a search.

Both Poole lifeboats took part in the intensive search, the 33ft Brede class Inner Wheel with Coxswain Frank Ide at the helm, launching at 2150, five minutes ahead of the Boston Whaler Sam and Iris Coles, under the charge of Helmsman David Coles.

A police patrol boat, helicopter and several coastguard units joined the search, which was conducted in extreme cold.

Spray splashing on board the lifeboats was freezing instantly as the long and thorough search of Poole Harbour, Swash Channel and Studland Bay was carried out, the coastguard units scouring the shoreline.

The Sam and Iris Coles and the police Searider returned to their stations as the extreme cold became more intense, taking their crews to the limits of their physical endurance, but at 2359 the searchlight of the Inner Wheel picked out a faint glimmer from the missing boat, whose crew had been trying to light pieces of paper in a last desperate attempt to attract attention.

Coxswain Ide took the lifeboat slowly towards the fishing boat, anchored in very shallow water, managing to get alongside for the two frozen fishermen to be taken aboard.

They and their 13Vtft Dell Quay Dory were taken to Poole Town Quay, where they were passed into the care of the coastguards.

Coxswain Ide later paid tribute to the crews of the Sam and Iris Coles and to the police patrol boat for their efforts in extreme conditions.

A letter of appreciation from Lt Cdr Brian Miles, the RNLI's deputy director and chief of operations, was sent to the Poole lifeboat crews, paying tribute to their devotion to duty. Had the searchlight of the Inner Wheel not picked out the missing boat, it is more than likely that the two men would not have survived, he added..