A dad-of-three who drowned off the coast of Scotland during a solo sailing holiday told his worried wife that ‘he’d be fine’ just hours before his body was found by a fisherman. Bryn Watkins was enjoying his ‘last sail of the season’ on his yacht - Athena 2 - when he began experiencing engine problems near the Isle of Bute on October 18 last year.
The 74-year-old, from Kidderminster, near Birmingham, decided to try to sail to Port Bannatyne marina where he would attach the vessel to a buoy, Worcestershire Coroner's Court heard. His grieving wife Jenny said she'd been in constant touch with her husband by phone but he told her to “stop worrying about him" and that "he'd be fine".
Birmingham Live reports that the following morning at around 8am, a fisherman found the experienced sailor’s body in the water with the yacht and its dingy ‘beached’ nearby. Sergeant Christopher Dibbs, based at Rothesay Police Station, was called out to the scene and said Mr Watkins' life jacket had not inflated.
The fisherman reported the yacht must have been on the bay since 2am due to the state of the tide. A post mortem found the cause of death was drowning and showed that Mr Watkins had signs of hypothermia.
Widow Mrs Watkins said: "There was a newer lifejacket on the boat but he preferred the one he usually wore. The lifejacket should have inflated on impact but didn't. Bryn was an optimistic man and wanted to sail and I don't know if he'd serviced the lifejacket that year. I did nag him about these things."
The court heard there was no evidence that the lifejacket Mr Watkins was found in had been examined. The family said they were trying to get it returned to them from police in Scotland.
Mrs Watkins added: "Bryn was generally a happy, contented and optimistic man who loved his family. He loved sailing. He'd always wanted to sail around the British Isles in his own boat, so we bought the Athena 2 yacht in 2016.
"He enjoyed single-handed sailing and would occasionally go to Scotland to sail alone. On this occasion, he'd decided to have a last sail of the season before I met him. I spoke to him every day of his trip.
"When I rang him at 7pm that night, he was not far from Kames Bay and could see the red buoy. He needed to tack the boat and his last words to me were 'stop worrying Jen, I'll be fine'."
His wife tried to ring him several times after 10pm but thought he was asleep or had taken his hearing aids out when she got no answer. When she still got no answer the following morning, she grew concerned and phoned Ballantyne Marina, who put her on to the police.
"Bryn had everything to live for and was a happy man," said Mrs Watkins. "He had many plans for the years ahead together and with family."
Worcestershire Assistant Coroner James Puzey described the view of John Field, who investigated the circumstances: "At some stage, he dropped the main sail continuing under the jib alone but was then unable to attach a rope to the buoy.
"After failing, he decided to stop close to the buoy and then used the dingy to take the rope to the buoy. It's not easy to attach a rope to a buoy when sailing single-handedly.
"Mr Field speculates that at some stage while getting into or preparing the dingy on the deck, he fell into the water. Cold water shock and or other events may have made him incapable of inflating his life jacket(manually)."
Mr Puzey recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying: "It is unclear how he came to be in the water.
Bartley Green Sailing Club has paid tribute to Mr Watkins. A spokesperson said: "It is with sadness that we informed members of the passing of one of our former Commodores Bryn Watkins at the age of 74. Bryn sailed a Supernova at the club and was Commodore from 1997 to 1998."
Mr Watkins was a Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter who loved trains and had a model train set but his main hobby was sailing.
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