Seasick sailors attempted to travel from the West Country to London - but things went horribly wrong.
The hapless crew left Dorset but hours later had to be rescued by Weymouth RNLI. Coastguards spotted the small motorboat off the coast at Lulworth on Wednesday afternoon (July 5), reports Dorset Live. The group was unaware they were near the Lulworth firing range after being stopped by the MOD's range safety boat.
Members from Weymouth Lifeboat discovered the boat was in an "unseaworthy condition" and its crew had no navigation charts or radio. The crew, who had planned to travel to London, were all seasick and declared unsafe to travel. They were escorted back to Lulworth to speak to the coastguard.
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Recounting the bizarre call-out, a spokesman for Weymouth RNLI said: "It’s IMPERATIVE if going to sea to be fully prepared and know what you’re doing. This afternoon our ILB crew was out training when they received a request from Solent Coastguard to provide advice to a small motorboat off Lulworth.
"The boat had been stopped by the range safety boat - seems they didn’t know about the Lulworth firing range! But that was just the start.
"After some investigation, it turned out they had NO charts, NO radio and worse the vessel was obviously in an unseaworthy condition! But they did have a passage plan; they were heading for London via Bournemouth!
"To add to their problems, the crew of the vessel were all seasick (and) clearly they were in no fit state to undertake any kind of passage. The vessel and crew were escorted into Lulworth and handed over to the Coastguard team for further action.
"The outcome could have been so much worse! The ILB and crew returned to Weymouth, where it was refuelled and back on station. "
