RNLI lifeboat crew saves three men when their giant inflatable duck called Quackers gets blown out to sea
- Quakers was left stranded at sea after being blown out by strong tides and wind
- Read more: Emergency at Bournemouth as two swimmers seen struggling
Three men and their giant inflatable duck were nearly lost at sea after their trip to the beach took a fowl turn.
Eyewitnesses reported that the men pumped up the duck, named Quackers, at Westward Ho! beach in north Devon before taking to the waves with a friend in an inflatable kayak.
After five minutes, the aquatic explorers had drifted out about 75 metres from the beach and the kayak could not push them towards the shore.
When Quackers was 200 metres from shore, the coastguard was called by panicked onlookers, who noticed that the men were in a flap.
A heroic beachgoer went out to the duck on a paddleboard to try to bring the men back to shore. He managed to tow Quackers closer to the beach, enabling the men to jump out and swim to safety with no injuries except some ruffled feathers.
Quackers was immediately blown back out to sea.
RNLI volunteers with the inflatable duck. Crewmembers were out at sea on their usual training exercise when the emergency call came in
When Quackers was 200 metres from shore, the coastguard was called by panicked onlookers and sent RNLI volunteers to the scene
Volunteers from RNLI Appledore were out in their inshore and all-weather lifeboats for their usual Tuesday night training exercise when they were told by the Coastguard to assist the men in the duck.
The inshore lifeboat arrived as the men made it back to shore safely, with crew member Del Elsemore swimming in to check on them.
Mr Elsemore said: ‘The quick thinking of this member of the public with a paddleboard prevented a nasty situation turning much worse. He was the real lifesaver of the day.’
The lifeboats returned to their exercise after the incident on June 6, joined by Quackers, for whom the incident was just water off a duck’s back.
A spokeswoman for the RNLI charity said: ‘With the strong tides and off-shore breezes of the Bristol Channel, Appledore RNLI urges people never to take an inflatable toy into the sea.
‘There is no way to control these and they get pulled out from shore within seconds.
‘If any member of the public sees someone getting into difficulty in the water, please, as this eyewitness did, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.’
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