When his craft hit a wave and flipped him into the chilly November sea, a boater was left holding on for dear life. Could anyone help him – or even see him?

‘I was just about to put on my hairnet and get baking when the call came,’ recalls caterer and Crew Member Mel Varvel. Pagers alerted Mel and her fellow Mudeford volunteers just after 2pm on 5 November. Once at the station, the crew of four discovered what the emergency was: a passer-by at Southbourne Beach had spotted an upturned boat out at sea, with someone clinging to it in the cold swells. The crew pulled on their kit and launched their Atlantic 85
lifeboat immediately. ‘My role on the way there was to keep in touch with the Coastguard on the radio,’ says Crew Member Simon Smith, who was aboard along with Mel, Crew Member Ian Derham and Helm/Station Mechanic Ian Parker. Simon discovered they had some welcome help from a another set of volunteers too: ‘We had been told roughly where the boat was, but then we heard that the National Coastwatch Institution had people in the lookout at
Hengistbury Head. That was extremely handy.’ Simon radioed the Coastwatch volunteers – who had recently restarted the local service for the first time in years – and they gave the exact location of the boat, clearly visible from their
elevated position on the headland.

That led the crew directly to the upturned boat, with a man in his 70s desperately holding on to its outboard motor. ‘One of the first things that goes through your mind is, can he speak? Is there anyone else with him?’ recalls Crew Member Ian Derham. ‘Luckily he was able to shout to us that it was just him.’ Meanwhile Helm Ian Parker considered the best way to approach in the conditions – the sea was fairly choppy and an icy offshore wind blew. ‘The man was really cold and reluctant to release his grip, so we couldn’t throw him a line. We also realised that his boat was anchored. When he went over, his anchor must have been loose on the deck and fallen out. That prevented the boat – and the man – from being blown out to sea.’ As the boat wasn’t moving around too much, Helm Ian felt he could get alongside the man without risking crushing him. While he carefully approached, Crew Members Simon and Ian prepared to lift the casualty from under his arms. ‘He didn’t want to let go at first,’ says Simon. ‘His hands were all hard and tight – he was scared and cold. I don’t think he would have lasted much longer. And when we did coax him to let us help him aboard, he was really difficult to lift because he had a heavy coat on.’ Mel joined the effort and the trio managed to pull the man onto the Atlantic 85. ‘We tried to keep that cold wind off him by sitting him on the deck, giving him a survivor’s blanket and shielding him,’ says Crew Member Ian. The rescue wasn’t over yet. Although Mel knew from her casualty care training that the man was not quite hypothermic, he was extremely cold and had swallowed some water. ‘He had tried to swim for shore a couple of times and gone under,’ she explains. Helm Ian Parker headed back to the station. and the man was stretchered into the care of paramedics. ‘He was very fortunate,’ reflects Crew Member Ian Derham. ‘If his anchor hadn’t fallen out, if someone hadn’t spotted him, if we didn’t get to him when we did … it would have been very different.’ ‘That anchor saved his life,’ agrees Helm Ian Parker. ‘The teamwork did too. Coastguard, Coastwatch, NHS, RNLI. I had three highly trained crew behind me – communicating, rescuing, caring for the casualty. It was a great
team effort.’ 

‘He was so lucky’

‘It was a brand new boat. The man had turned towards a wave that caught him – it was a tiny boat so it wouldn’t have taken much to turn it over. While he was in the ambulance, we went and retrieved it. Better to not leave a craft out there on its own like that. He was very grateful! He was OK after being checked over by the
paramedics and came back to the station on exercise night to say thank you. He was so lucky – he hadn’t taken out a lifejacket or means of calling for help with him, which everyone should do when they go afloat.’

Words: Rory Stamp
Photos: RNLI/Nathan Williams