Struggling in the cold, dark sea, three football fans wondered if it was game over 

After a night out in Barmouth watching Wales play in a televised football match on 6 July 2016, three sailors rowed a small dinghy back to their yacht. With their lifejackets and VHF devices left onboard the yacht, the men suddenly found themselves in deep trouble when a wave capsized the dinghy. A strong ebb tide was flowingat 4 or 5 knots, and the trio were swept
out from the harbour to the open sea. Struck by the cold and the power of the waves, the sailors cried for help. Eventually, someone heard them and alerted the Coastguard. The inshore lifeboat crew launched The Rotarian Clive Tanner at 1.18am, joined by the Mersey class Moira Barrie 18 minutes later. The search was on.
A LIGHT IN THE DARK
Together with a Coastguard helicopter, the two lifeboat crews scoured the choppy sea for any sign of casualties. Powerful searchlights from the all-weather lifeboat joined hand held lights from the inshore lifeboat. But the trio were now far from the harbour, where they’d first gone in. ‘At that point, we weren’t sure if we were looking for individuals in the water or on a vessel,' says Coxswain Pete Davies. 'Luckily for them, they’d climbed back aboard their dinghy. But with no buoyancy aids, and the boat half-full of chilly water, they were really panicking. We found out later that they could see our lights and one was waving the seat around from the dinghy to attract attention. They were using their hands to try to bail out.’ After initially finding nothing, the lifeboat crews widened their search area – they knew the strong currents at Barmouth could have dragged the sailors out to sea. And, just after 3am, the volunteers spotted the casualties. ‘They’d been swept over the sand bar and quite far into the bay,’ explains Mechanic Daryl Jones. ‘They were cold, exhausted and extremely shaken.’ Adds Coxswain Pete: ‘As we pulledthem aboard the lifeboat, it was clear the men were too cold and tired to help themselves; the oldest of the three could hardly move his legs.’

WELCOME WARMTH
With the help of tea, woolly thermals and warm showers back at the station, the casualties began to recover. One explained that when he saw the lifeboat’s searchlights and heard the helicopter, he knew he’d need a final burst of energy to get the attention of the rescuers. ‘Even after a relatively warm day, the water was cold and rough,' says Pete. 'They wouldn’t have had much longer, and I think that dawned on them pretty quickly.' To say thanks, the three casualties bought the crew some wine from their favourite Indian restaurant, close to the lifeboat station. When the waiter asked why they wanted wine for the crew, the yachtsmen replied simply: 'Last night they saved our lives'.
Words: Laura Rainbow
Photos: RNLI/Dan Wyre / Philip Hendy

HELEN ILES
CREW MEMBER | PRIMARY
SCHOOLTEACHER
AND PHOTOGRAPHER
‘They could see the lights onshore, they could see us searching, they could see flares; but they had no way of signalling to us. We were so close to them in the dark, and they were just bailing out the whole time. Fortunately, they decided to stay together too – sometimes stranded people start to give up and one swims for help. Then you’re in trouble.’