We were paged, got to the station and told we were looking for someone in the water. The conditions were wind against tide … rough, choppy, an extremely cold wind. The area we searched is between an island and headland – the tide runs quickly through there. We linked up with Port Isaac and Padstow lifeboats. We set out a search pattern from that point and scoured the sea for 6 hours, trying to travel with the tide. But the sea is no respecter of life. Anyone who gets immersed in water will realise how quickly you can become exhausted and unconscious. In this tragedy the water was around 10 degrees – cold enough to steal the air from your lungs and leave you helpless in seconds.