Post by The Ref That's Left on Apr 29, 2010 20:44:56 GMT
www.metro.co.uk/news/823674-sailor-circled-an-island-off-kent-but-thought-he-was-sailing-around-the-uk
A nautical novice who thought he was sailing around the British coast turned out to be repeatedly circling a small island off Kent.
The man was rescued by a lifeboat crew after he ran out of fuel off the Isle of Sheppey, whose shore he had been hugging all day and night.
The amateur admiral had been trying to get from Gillingham to Southampton but took a ‘wrong turn’ on the road map he was using to navigate.
‘Because he had no chart and he didn’t even know what navigational charts were, his general principle was to keep the land on his right, except he didn’t realise Sheppey was an island,’ said lifeboat volunteer Tom Ware.
Navigation was not the silly sailor’s only problem. His motor cruiser, which he bought online, was not designed for sea use and he had no provisions.
He also seemed to think that because he could drive to Southampton on a single tank of fuel, he needed only one tank for the boat.
He had a VHF radio but did not know how to use it. The man was told by coastguards at Queenborough, on the isle, that engine size and therefore fuel consumption differed – and the coast route was longer than the road distance anyway.
‘We passed on relevant safety advice and advised him the best way to Southampton would be by train,’ said coastguard Ian Goodwin.
‘However, he said he would get some fuel and get under way – but asked us if he went left or right when he came out of the Swale [the channel separating the isle from Kent].’
It is not known whether the man eventually made it to Southampton.
A nautical novice who thought he was sailing around the British coast turned out to be repeatedly circling a small island off Kent.
The man was rescued by a lifeboat crew after he ran out of fuel off the Isle of Sheppey, whose shore he had been hugging all day and night.
The amateur admiral had been trying to get from Gillingham to Southampton but took a ‘wrong turn’ on the road map he was using to navigate.
‘Because he had no chart and he didn’t even know what navigational charts were, his general principle was to keep the land on his right, except he didn’t realise Sheppey was an island,’ said lifeboat volunteer Tom Ware.
Navigation was not the silly sailor’s only problem. His motor cruiser, which he bought online, was not designed for sea use and he had no provisions.
He also seemed to think that because he could drive to Southampton on a single tank of fuel, he needed only one tank for the boat.
He had a VHF radio but did not know how to use it. The man was told by coastguards at Queenborough, on the isle, that engine size and therefore fuel consumption differed – and the coast route was longer than the road distance anyway.
‘We passed on relevant safety advice and advised him the best way to Southampton would be by train,’ said coastguard Ian Goodwin.
‘However, he said he would get some fuel and get under way – but asked us if he went left or right when he came out of the Swale [the channel separating the isle from Kent].’
It is not known whether the man eventually made it to Southampton.