Three rescued in high winds... and mud When Whitstable's Atlantic was called out to rescue two adults and an eightyear- old from a 24ft yacht the crew found themselves dealing not only with breaking seas and Force 6-7 winds but also hampered by thick mud.

Having been alerted to the plight of the yacht Mtoto, which was only about 4 miles away from the station, the Atlantic was at the scene at 1900 on 6 August 1996, less than ten minutes after launching.

She found the yacht aground on the northern, windward, side of the Horse Sands, lying over on her port side with breaking seas to starboard and the family of three still aboard.

The helmsman, Nigel Scammell, was able to bring the lifeboat in on the leeward side until she was about 100 yards away, but as she could not get any closer through the shallows a crew member had to wade across to Mtoto to find out the situation on board.

A cockle dredger had been working in the area shortly before and as a result the bottom had been disturbed, leaving very soft mud underfoot.

The three people aboard the yacht were very cold and wet and it was decided to take them ashore.

The second crew member waded across with a line to help them back to the lifeboat but it soon became obvious that with the weather conditions, the mud and the very tired state of the survivors that something else needed to be done.

The yacht was carrying a small inflatable tender and once this had been inflated it proved to be the ideal method of ferrying the three people back to the lifeboat-although the thick mud made the task difficult and uncomfortable for crew members Chris Houghton and Paul Holden as they hauled themselves and the dinghy full of survivors to safety.

By 2005 the survivors were back at the boathouse, being warmed and given hot drinks.

Although tired, cold and wet they were all unhurt..