“It’s incredible when you realise the things that you don’t think you’ve absorbed have actually gone in and you do all the safety things you need to,” said Joe Dudley, a skipper whose vessel caught fire off Salcombe, UK, on 30 April.
The HM Coastguard praised a skipper for having all the right equipment and doing ‘all the right things’, after his boat caught fire off Salcombe, UK.
Joe Dudley ran into difficulty when his fishing vessel ‘Peace N Plenty’ had a fire onboard six miles off Salcombe just before 6.30pm, Tuesday.
He called HM Coastguard reporting the problem and said he had abandoned to a life raft with a handheld VHF radio and EPIRB (emergency position-indicating radio beacon).
Both RNLI lifeboats from Salcombe were tasked and the skipper was brought back to shore.
This was a man who did everything right from the moment he realised he had a problem. He had a fully registered EPIRB which he activated right away, he was wearing a lifejacket and made ready his lifeboat. The EPIRB helped us establish his position to within a few metres. At the same time he called a family member who then was able to liaise with us,
…noted Tago Mcleod, from HM Coastguard based at Falmouth.
Meanwhile, navigational warnings were issued for the abandoned vessel, but the fire has now burned out and the boat is being towed back to harbour at Brixham. The vessel will be inspected by a UK MCA surveyor.
The skipper had recently completed a sea survival course. He said:
It’s incredible when you realise the things that you don’t think you’ve absorbed have actually gone in and you do all the safety things you need to. I’d say to anyone thinking about doing a sea survival course to do it and to listen seriously because it could save your life.
