Three men in a lifeboat raced toward stranded boaters on Friday evening, May 23rd. The RNLI pagers sounded at 8.35 pm and by 8.45 pm the lifeboat was afloat…at low tide… again. The ebb tide seems to have caught many people in the last few weeks, leaving them stuck on high ground. Friday’s boat had been grounded by the ebbing tide up the Colne between Brightlingsea and Wivenhoe - the two crew members were tired and cold and sure that it would be a bad idea to try walking across the mud.

A friendly yacht stayed within eyesight and hailing distance of the stranded vessel, but not so close that they, too, would go aground. The yacht kept the two men company and communicated by radio, on their behalf, to the land-bound mobile Coastguard and the Mersea lifeboat. The lifeboat sped around Mersea Island, giving a wide birth to the shallow waters off Waldergraves, and eventually came into range of the stranded men who were now a long way up the mud from the water’s edge. The time had come for an unpleasant and very muddy struggle down to the water and the safety of the RNLI Lifeboat. Maybe these two men were remembering an incident last year when children had to be winched free of the mud by helicopter! The mud can be treacherous and the men were right to be cautious, however they managed to get into the Lifeboat and were taken ashore at Brightlingsea.

When asked was kind of reception the lifeboat got, the duty helmsman, Reuben Frost said: “They were very glad to see us – they were cold and covered in mud – they were very happy to be picked up.”

What is it about this job? Three men were happy to drop everything, speed to the station, shove themselves into dry suits with rubber necks and cuffs, don helmet and lifejacket with harness straps everywhere, and jump into an inflatable boat to rush about in the falling darkness. On return to the station they are all smiles, happy to have been useful, happy to have put two miserable people ashore and to safety. Those men continue to be happy and cheerful as they are washed down by a pressure washer to get off layers of mud, and to proceed to do running repairs on the lifeboat, to ensure that she is ready for the next call out.

It’s not just those three men, either. There are a dozen shore helpers who rally when the pagers go off – maroons are fired, the boat is launched, and on return fuel is replenished, the boat and launching tractor are thoroughly sprayed down, and records are entered into the computer and log. The lifeboat may come home by 10.30 but the crew and shore helpers will not.

Faith Hare

West Mersea RNLI Station Press Officer