I live on a Dutch barge moored on the Cadogan Pier in Chelsea. One evening I had retired to bed and was drifting off with the shipping forecast murmuring in the background when a Baskevillian scream punched its way through the open porthole. I stumbled to the wheelhouse to see a flailing man barrelling down the river. Without really thinking I threw a lifebuoy and line in his direction. He grabbed it and I pulled him alongside.

The next task was to get him onboard. Instead of grabbing my hand, he chose my sarong, which offered little resistance … After several attempts to manhandle him up the side we were both exhausted. It finally occurred to me it would be a less Herculean task to get him into my RIB, moored alongside. He ended up with his face in my lap, legs pointing skyward.

Observing my catch close up, he was 6’ plus, maybe 100kg and out of it. When I finally got him on deck it was apparent there was also something amiss with his legs. Enter an RNLI lifeboat – the crew responded to the manic gesticulations of a nude, plump middle-aged man with admirable stoicism. They took charge with calm professionalism and I was able to scuttle below and dress.

Ten minutes later he was strapped onto a stretcher and taken away, leaving me wondering what had just occurred.

Lessons learned:

• Always keep a lifering, with line attached, to hand. This is not regulatory but should be for all craft on this tidal river.

• Have a Jacobs ladder or similar – without my RIB, I wouldn’t have been able to get the man onboard and he would likely have drowned or even dragged me into the river.

• Sleep in pyjamas.

Anonymous via Nick Pownall, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk

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I was pleased to see two mentions in the Lifeboat of the RNLI’s fundraising partnership with Amazon in which at least 5% of sales through RNLI.org/amazon is donated to you. But in my view you do not make enough of it. Why not consider a quarter-page advert in the magazine or a poster displayed prominently in your shops? That would bring this extraordinarily generous offer to a wider public.

Donald Stephens, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire

The Editor replies: Thank you for highlighting this. We always feature the Amazon link on both our Review page (44) and as part of our list of Friends (46). Offshore supporters will find it promoted on the back page of their magazine too. It’s also easy to reach from our website homepage by choosing ‘How to support us’ and ‘Other ways to help’. The RNLI received nearly £14K in donations from Amazon in 2012 so the deal is certainly worthwhile. However, it would not make sense to promote them in our shops as they are a direct competitor on an increasing range of products. It’s all about balancing the benefits.