Three rescued after inflatable duck drifts out to sea off Devon coast

RNLI volunteer says paddleboarder was the ‘real lifesaver’ at Westward Ho! after current carried men out to sea

Three people on a giant inflatable duck were rescued after it drifted out into the Bristol Channel from a beach in Devon.

Witnesses said the men pumped up the duck, which has been nicknamed Quackers, at Westward Ho! and took it out to sea accompanied by a friend on an inflatable kayak.

After five minutes, they had drifted out about 75 metres from the beach and the friend in the kayak tried unsuccessfully to push them back to shore. The coastguard was called when the duck was 200 metres offshore.

A member of the public went out to the duck on a paddleboard to try to help the men. Struggling against the current, the man managed to tow it closer to shore, where the men all jumped out and swam to the beach. The duck was immediately blown back out to sea.

Volunteers from Appledore Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) were out in their inshore and all-weather lifeboats on a routine training exercise when they were asked by the coastguard to assist the men.

The inshore lifeboat arrived as the men made it back to shore safely, and crewmember Del Elsemore swam in to check on them. 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 Tuesdaywith the recovered Quackers onboard. A spokesperson for the rescue charity said: “With the strong tides and offshore 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.”

Separately, two men were rescued by RNLI lifeboat crews off Ilfracombe in Devon after a trip across the Bristol Channel from south Wales in search of pasties took an unfortunate turn.

Paul Hadfield, the owner of a cruiser called the Gazelle, and a friend had spent a day in Devon and picked up nine pasties to take home to Swansea. On the way back the boat was hit by a big wave and took on water rapidly. “I could see those nine pasties were floating,” he said.

An RNLI crew were called out and as they tried to tow the Gazelle back to shore, it sank. Both men – but not the pasties – were rescued in the incident on 22 May.

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The Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) has warned of the risks of open water as there are more drownings during heatwaves than at any other time of year.

Lee Heard, the director of the RLSS, said: “Devastatingly, over the recent weeks we have seen a number of people, including many children, lose their lives when in or near the water. There is evidence that there is a link between warmer weather and increased numbers of accidental drownings, and we want to ensure that everyone is equipped with the vital knowledge to allow them to safely enjoy being in or around the water.”

In 2022, 46% of the 226 accidental drownings took place in June, July and August, according to official figures, including the drowning deaths of seven teenage boys during the July heatwave.