Fisherman rescued for a second time
4:09pm Sunday 23rd October 2011
A RECKLESS fisherman had to be saved for the second time in a week after running aground on Cobmarsh Island.
At about 8.15pm on Saturday the Mersea coastguard and West Mersea RNLI Inshore Lifeboat were called out to search for an overdue 18ft Shetland boat with one person on board.
The craft had been drift net fishing about one-and-a-half miles off West Mersea at 2pm.
A search was carried out and when the fisherman saw white flares from the lifeboat he called a shore contact.
The lifeboat crew found the man and his boat aground on the island before it was towed to West Mersea.
He was given safety advice again because he had no life saving apparatus onboard, no VHF radio and an inadequate engine for the wind and tidal conditions.