Dark Blackpool When a man in a 5m angling boat off Blackpool had difficulty landing in force 5 winds and darkness, he aborted the attempt and took the boat back out to sea. It was 21 December 2004 and the Atlantic 75 lifeboat Bickerstaffe found him just before 8pm, drifting 200m from the sea wall and dangerously close to being swamped in the heavy surf. Crew Member Colin Lowe jumped into the sea and hauled himself aboard, rather than risking jumping from craft to craft. He managed to start the engine and steer out to sea through the surf, before returning to land at Central Beach, escorted by the lifeboat..