 Atlantic sailor sends mayday to his local...pub
When you're in trouble, you can always rely on your mates down the pub to give you a helping hand - even in the mid-Atlantic.
Well, hapless sailor Alan Thompson took getting bailed out by his pals to the next level – calling them for help from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
He took a tumble on the deck of his new 11m (37ft) Hunter Legend yacht badly injuring his pelvis.
And, instead of calling the rescue service, the 61-year-old rang friend Roger Pocock, licensee of The Bull's Head in Fishbourne, West Sussex. Mr Pocock, 62, contacted Falmouth Coastguards in Cornwall and they launched a joint rescue operation with their US counterparts.
'I don't know why he didn't put out an SOS, but maybe he didn't want to make a big alert,' Mr Pocock said.
'It was obvious he was in constant pain. It was very worrying for us. I had a vision of him lying on the deck where he fell,' he added.
A British doctor spoke to Mr Thompson of Chichester, West Sussex, via satellite phone until help arrived. He was airlifted to safety more than 1,000km (700miles) north-east of Bermuda. However, he was forced to abandon his £16,000 yacht, Padolu, which he was sailing home from Florida.
A spokesman for Falmouth Coastguards said: 'We told him he would have to come off the boat for treatment and it would be the last he would see of it. The boat was not insured. He was gutted, but he knew it was the only way.'
source: Metro
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