If you were rescued by the RNLI, would you thank those involved? Surprisingly, many people don't. Dave Gambell, rescued by Yarmouth lifeboat, is an exception.

What follows is his letter of gratitude to the crew, together with his vivid account of the experienceDear Yarmouth lifeboat crew On behalf of my crew I would like to thank you alt for the fantastic job you did in rescuing our disabled and sinking vessel on Sunday afternoon. I guess like most people you never think it's going to happen to you and it is so reassuring to know that there's such a dependable and professional lifeboat and Coastguard service on standby when you need it.

Some of my crew were new to big boat sailing and this was their first experience. You'll see from the account attached that we experienced quite a lot. All the crew have been in touch with me since the event and expressed their desire to sign up for the next cruise despite the events on Sunday afternoon. I just wanted you to know that because of your professionalism and haste on Sunday, you not only saved lives and a vessel but also preserved the enthusiasm of the crew for sailing.

I'm sorry for ruining your Sunday afternoon, but eternally grateful for your support. I hope if we meet again it won't be under similar circumstances.

Kind regards, Dave CambellWe departed from Yarmouth Harbour at around 10.30am on 4 April 2004, with the intention of having a leisurely sail back to Southampton. The wind was south west force 5-7 and we were mid Solent, in around 16m of water, when the incident occurred.

After a gust hit, the helmsman complained of lack of steerage and we noticed the top of the rudder shaft was moving irregularly. A few seconds later we saw the rudder floating off down tide.

After gaining some control I attempted to sail back for the rudder, but the gusting wind, and wind against tide, made this very difficult and after about five minutes I gave up. It was then that I noticed the water level in the saloon was rising.

The crew began bailing out using a hand bilge pump in the cockpit and buckets. The water level was still rising, despite desperate efforts to contain the situation. As soon as I realised the increasing scale of the problem I decided to make a Mayday call. Solent Coastguard immediately arranged for the Yarmouth [Isle of Wight] lifeboat to be launched to our aid.

The lifeboat was alongside within 12 minutes or so of my Mayday and they dropped off two crew members and a salvage pump to try and reduce the floodwater in the cabin. The situation could have beena lot graver if the lifeboat hadn't been able to react so quickly.

By now it was too rough to transfer the yacht's crew to the lifeboat directly, so the lifeboat crew launched their dinghy and ferried people off in twos. I remained on the yacht with two lifeboat crew.

The lifeboat then proceeded to tow the yacht safely to Lymington Yacht Haven.

Throughout the operation, the Yarmouth RNLI, Solent Coastguard and Lymington harbour staff did everything possible to minimise both the risk to the survivors and any further damage to the vessel.

For a couple of days after the rescue I couldn't help thinking how lucky we were to be rescued so quickly. It was probably the worst and most dramatic experience in all my years of sailing..