The rescue mission began after the men washed out to sea on the “Quackers” inflatable duck.

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Rescued from the sea on an inflatable duck, three men are rescued, thanks to the RNLI and a member of the public.

The trio hit the sea on inflatables with a friend in an inflatable kayak from Westward Ho! beach, but soon ran into trouble on the evening of Tuesday 6 June.

Within five minutes they had drifted about 75 meters out to sea and another friend in the kayak trying to get them back to shore had no success.

Then an eyewitness called the coast guard when the three men ended up on the duck about 200 meters from shore.

The Appledore RNLI volunteers were already out on the water doing training exercises when they were given a shout out and went to Westward Ho! shore.

Meanwhile, a member of the public took off on his paddle board to help the four men who had been washed overboard.

Despite the resistance of the current, he managed to pull the inflatables closer to the shore, allowing the men to jump off the duck and swim to shore. But a blow of air immediately returned to the sea.

The beached lifeboat then came ashore and crew member Dale Ellesmore swam to check on the four men.

“This paddle board member’s quick thinking prevented a bad situation from getting much worse. He was a real life saver of the day,” Dale said. The lifeboats then returned to their exercise, collecting the “Quackers” the RNLI station now called the “New Trainee Crew Member”.

There is no way to control the inflatables in the sea

Although the four men were safely rescued and the station gained a new member, the RNLI is now warning people to take currents seriously and not to use inflatables.

In a Facebook post, they wrote: “With strong tides and sea breezes for the Bristol Channel, Appledore RNLI urges people to never take an inflatable toy out to sea.

“There is no way to control these and they are removed from the beach within seconds.

“If any member of the public sees someone having difficulty in the water, please, as this eyewitness did, call 999 and ask for the Coast Guard.”

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