Duo saved attempting to reach WWII sea forts in tiny boat

By Imogen Howse via SWNS

A daft duo had to be rescued after they attempted to reach abandoned WW2 sea forts miles off the Kent coast - in a rubber dinghy.

Amazed rescuers "could not believe what they were seeing" when they found the two men - both in their mid-20s - drifting in an "overloaded" vessel on Saturday, July 27.

The pair had equipped themselves for their misguided adventure with fishing rods, a ladder, and mobile phones - even though there is hardly any service that far away from the coast.

They were also wearing lifejackets - which the RNLI said should only be used when in harbors or close to the shore.

A crew member said the young men "did not seem aware of the danger they had put themselves in."

The reckless pair had set off from Warden Bay, Sheppey, into the Thames Estuary in the hopes of scaling the 60ft Red Sands Forts - a journey of more than five miles.

The abandoned set of towers were built during WW2 to help Britain defend itself against air attacks from Germany.

The tiny inflatable "boat" got into difficulty after the battery on the outboard ran flat and the RNLI were called into action by the coastguard.

The Sheerness all-weather lifeboat - called Judith Copping Joyce - launched with a crew of six at 7:20pm.

However, when they arrived at the towers at 8pm, there was no sign of the dinghy - or the two adventurers.

An update from the coastguard informed the crew that the men were drifting towards the Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm and were in contact via a poor mobile phone connection.

A further update reported that the men and the boat was bobbing around by the huge wind turbines.

Both men and the inflatable were taken onboard the RNLI lifeboat at 8:22pm.

Rescuers then passed the pair into the care of the Sheppey Coastguard Rescue Team at 9.05pm.

Sheerness RNLI lifeboat coxswain Paul Jarvis said: “The craft was totally not suitable for the open sea and they were extremely lucky that their ‘adventure’ had not ended in tragedy before we found them.

“They were both wearing buoyancy aids and had mobile phones and did not seem aware of the danger they had put themselves in.

“Mobile phone signals are notoriously bad at sea and buoyancy aids should only be used in close to shore or harbor situations.

“If we had not found them when we did the whole situation would have escalated with the onset of darkness and changing sea conditions and the outcome would most likely have not been good.”

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