There is no typical day for the men and women of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Britain’s all-volunteer version of our Coast Guard.
A powerboater from Devon, England was recently tying up his boat at the end of the day when things suddenly went wrong. His first mistake was unclipping the kill switch cord from his life jacket.
“I briefly took off the kill cord, and the engine suddenly sprang into life and I was over the side,” Peter Channing, 66, told The Western Morning News.
“My buoyancy jacket, which I always wear, inflated and I was drifting in the river. I thought my boat was going to the beach, but suddenly it reared up and started coming back towards me, bouncing off other boats,” he said.
Luckily, his 20-foot powerboat, Lazydaze, missed the skipper in the drink and began to circle Teignmouth Quay.
A passerby threw Channing a line and pulled him to safety on the dock. That’s when the RNLI lifeboat crew came onto the scene and put their training to good use.
Helmsman Giles Squirrel pulled up as close as possible and crewmembers Adam Truhol and Jim Cassidy had a line at the ready.
Video of the incident shows the pair lassoing the boat on their first attempt before corralling it toward them and cutting the engine.
There were no injuries — just a few banged-up boats.
“I suppose I can smile a bit about it now,” Channing said, “but I will be more careful in the future.”
