Rescued a Yachty last night

[smallribber]

Off we went last night in our little 4.5 m rib for an evening meander in Torbay as the easterlies are generally stopping us getting out during the day. There were about 2 other boats out. Came across a 24 ft sail boat about 500 m from the mouth of Brixham Marina he was trying to start his outboard. I thought he looked in trouble but as I headed towards him the engine started and off he went. We then had about 4o mins messing about in the bay avoiding lobster pots and then headed back. There was the sail boat bobbing about dead in the water. He waved at me so over we went. His engine had failed and he needed a tow in to a buoy. He was as cool as a cucumber.

After getting him to the buoy we hat a chat an he had only had the boat 2 months. He had bought it off eBay for £2,000 and left Eastbourne and got caught off Portland bill in very heavy seas. He was ducking into Brixham on his way to North Devon !. He was solo and at no point did he show any worry and was totally relaxed it seemed. His boat was a huge bargain and what a trip he was doing……….. Not sure if he was foolish of courageous or both.

good job we were there to tow him in

[rik_elliott]

Well done for helping. I guess he wasn't completely stuffed as he has sails, but a tow will have been much appreciated I'm sure. Portland is a scary place, I've not built up the courage to sail round it yet having peeped around it on a jet ski a year or two ago and seen horrifying towering overfalls. Funny thing was a few hours later it looked calm as anything - definitely a place deserving of respect

[paulbrown22]

Originally Posted by rik_elliott

Well done for helping. I guess he wasn't completely stuffed as he has sails, but a tow will have been much appreciated I'm sure. Portland is a scary place, I've not built up the courage to sail round it yet having peeped around it on a jet ski a year or two ago and seen horrifying towering overfalls. Funny thing was a few hours later it looked calm as anything - definitely a place deserving of respect

I've always found Portland Bill is one of those places that if you read the pilot/almanac directions carefully and get the tide times/wind right, it's absolutely fine. We've been round many times in both the sailing yacht and RIB, always using the inshore passage where you are almost scraping along the cliffs - at the right times that's almost flat calm, but you do have to read the tide tables and directions otherwise it could be bumpy!