Two men safely recovered from water after angling dinghy capsizes



Just after 6:15 this morning Dover Coastguard was alerted to an upturned angling dinghy in Reculver Bay, with what seemed to be a person clinging onto the side of the vessel.

Herne Bay Coastguard Rescue Team, and the RNLI lifeboats from Margate and Whitstable were sent to the scene. Several passing vessels in the area also responded to the Coastguard’s Mayday relay broadcast.

When the Whitstable lifeboat reached the dinghy, two men, in their sixties were found clinging onto the upturned hull.

Kaimes Beasley, HM Coastguard Maritime Operations Controller said,

“This could have been a very different outcome, the gentlemen had been in the water for approximately two hours, with the water temperature at only 14 degrees, any longer and they would have suffered severe hypothermia. We also strongly urge all recreational boaters to wear appropriate personal floatation devices such as a lifejacket or buoyancy aid at all times.”

The two men were taken by lifeboat to Herne Bay harbour and handed into the care of a waiting ambulance.

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