Bulletguy Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Blimey....this bloke is damned lucky to be alive! 8-) Fell overboard his fishing boat...couldn't get back onboard but managed to cling to hydraulic pipes attached to the boat which was running on autopilot set to Newlyn.....five miles away! 8-) Penlee RNLI eventually fished him out but only after he'd been spotted by another boat close to the pier. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/28/fisherman-clings-boat-autopilot-five-miles-falling-overboard/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Having fallen overboard myself in the same waters in winter many years ago I was lucky that there were two of us on the boat and my mate brought the boat around and, with great difficulty in a heaving sea, came alongside and hauled a very cold and heavy with water me aboard. After just a few minutes in the sea I was numb with cold and with waves breaking over me I was very fortunate to be picked up. How this guy survived for so long is indeed amazing and a testament to his fitness and strength, and good fortune at having set the auto pilot and knowing he was headed ashore may well have helped him hang on. One of the things that helped me was the experience I had in Falmouth harbour as part of a seamanship and navigation course where we jumped into the sea fully winter clothed from a fishing boat and were hauled into an inflatable rescue boat after a minute or two in the water and all I can say is that in winter the water is very very energy and breath sappingly cold but that experience gave me an understanding of the shock and realisation as your warm body hits the cold sea. I'll bet he was soon back at sea - tough lot Cornish fishermen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 Amazing. If you have ever tried to hang on to a moving boat in the water (and I have) its really hard to do for any length of time but to do it for an hour at presumably around 5 knots is just incredible. Must have been freezing as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowie Posted December 29, 2018 Share Posted December 29, 2018 When I first heard this on radio, I think the announcer said that he clung to his nets. This didn’t really make sense at the time, so clinging to hydraulic pipes makes more sense.. Lucky guy. Snowie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted December 29, 2018 Author Share Posted December 29, 2018 Tracker - 2018-12-29 12:20 PM How this guy survived for so long is indeed amazing and a testament to his fitness and strength, and good fortune at having set the auto pilot and knowing he was headed ashore may well have helped him hang on. He's 40 but from the one photo of him looks like he's kept relatively fit. RNLI guy said anyone without a wetsuit wouldn't normally last much more than 20 mins in that temp and was staggered he was able to talk let alone survived. That said i remember once reading of a tragedy in the Bristol channel involving father and son and a friend of the father who'd gone out fishing. The boat got in trouble, they had no radio and no flares. They could see the town lights from where they were despite the distance. The son was a fit young lad and strong swimmer so they decided he'd strike out to shore and raise the alarm. He never made it and drowned. By this time the boat had overturned and the father decided to try swimming to shore as his pal was a non-swimmer. The father drowned. The sole survivor was the non-swimmer.....and it was his obesity which saved him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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