Man saved from drifting out to sea in his dinghy

The man, who was wearing no life jacket or buoyancy aid, was drifting out to sea in his dinghy in strong westerly winds near South Shields

Tyne Harbour where a man was saved after drifting in his dinghy

The Tyne harbour showing where the man had drifted past South Shields Groyne and Light. Credit: Adrian Don/RNLI

A man, who wasn’t wearing a life jacket and had no means of calling for help, has been rescued by Tynemouth RNLI after his dinghy started drifting out to sea.

He was attempting to chase after another dinghy which had broken from its moorings near to Corporation Quay, South Shields on the River Tyne.

Luckily, this is almost opposite the Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat station and the man was spotted by the coxswain, who immediately alerted two other lifeboat volunteers.

They were at the station replacing the lifeboat’s mooring lines.

The crew raced across the river to the man, whose two-metre dinghy had been blown by the wind past the Groyne light and was heading towards the piers, unable to get to shore.

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Members of the public on the Groyne had also spotted the man and had dialled 999 to report the incident to the UK Coastguard.

The Tynemouth crew reached the man and quickly tied his dinghy to the lifeboat.

The other boat was also recovered and all were taken back to the slipway of the local boat angling club.

A spokesman for Tynemouth RNLI, Adrian Don, said it was vital to be prepared before getting into a boat.

“Members of South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade had been tasked to assist on shore by UK Coastguard’s Humber Operations Centre and they gave advice to the man who was wearing no lifejacket or buoyancy aid and had no means of calling for help other than shouting,” he said.

“He had acted on instinct to attempt to recover the original boat but had he not been spotted the wind and tide would in all probability have carried him past the piers and out to sea where his situation would have become critically dangerous,” continued Don.

“We’d like to remind anyone going on a boat to be prepared for the worst by at least wearing a lifejacket and having a reliable means of calling for help,” stressed the RNLI spokesman.