How would the occupants of a yacht survive when it sank within seconds at the mouth of the Thames? Anne Millman finds out

On the overcast but cold morning of 17 February, Thames Coastguard at Waltonon- the-Naze heard an incomplete mayday. At the same time, London Coastguard at Woolwich received a 999 call from a power station worker who had seen two men clambering ashore. Were the two incidents related? It took about 7 minutes to clarify – they were one and the same.

The mayday was from the yacht Muddy Waters. On passage in a moderate breeze from west of Whitstable, Kent, to London, she had hit an underwater object, ripping a hole in her hull. Her 45-year-old owner had only seconds to radio before he, his 15-yearold daughter and two 19-year-old men were plunged into icy waters.

Lightning launch

Gravesend lifeboat station sits on the south side of the Thames in the tidal reaches opposite Tilbury fort and power station and therefore was well placed to assist. The RNLI’s Graham Tassell, Dave Greenfield and Roy King were already kitted up for an exercise when the call came through from London Coastguard. They launched their Atlantic 85 within 30 seconds and were on scene in less than 2 minutes.

Muddy Waters' crew were in immediate danger. ‘The girl was still in her sleeping bag,’ Graham recalls. ‘She was panicking and struggling inside it and we saw her go under at least twice.’ As she clutched a buoyancy aid and teddy bear, Dave and Roy pulled her over the side of the lifeboat and wrapped her in a blanket.

Her father was standing chest-deep in the water but was unresponsive when dragged aboard. He and his daughter were soon discovered to be severely hypothermic. After 10 minutes’ immersion, their body temperatures had already dropped by a life-threatening 5°C.

Fortunately the Port Health patrol vessel Lady Aileen was nearby so the pair were transferred to the shelter of her cabin en route to the Royal Terrace pier where a fast-response paramedic awaited them. Solid ground?

This freed the lifeboat crew to attend to the other two men. They had made their way to the edge of the tideline and were understandably reluctant to return to deeper water. But as the tide started to rise, they were sinking into the mud – it was imperative that their rescuers acted quickly.

Graham explains: ‘We couldn’t get the lifeboat to them so Dave went over the side, with a safety line attached, to coax them towards us, making sure there was solid ground for them to walk across.’ Safely onboard the lifeboat at last, one of the men started shaking violently.

Ambulances took all four casualties to Darenth Valley hospital in Dartford. Despite their shocking ordeal, they recovered well and they were released 6 hours later.

Litres per second

The extent of the damage to the yacht became clear when a Port of London Authority salvage vessel lifted her ashore. A 2m gash had allowed in an estimated 500 litres of water per second, triggering an almost instant sinking.

Ian Dunkley, Gravesend Station Manager and Sea Safety Officer, comments: ‘This dramatic rescue clearly demonstrates just how quickly a disaster can occur when you least expect it. Only the skipper was wearing a lifejacket and, as this had manual inflation, it hadn’t inflated automatically – nor was it fitted with crotch straps.’

And what of the worker on the shore who had had the presence of mind to dial 999 on his mobile and to ask for the Coastguard? ‘If the call had gone to the Police (as is often the case in the Thames area if the informant doesn’t know about the Coastguard) the subsequent delay would almost have certainly resulted in the death of at least two of the casualties.'