SEA RESCUE
Two men lucky to be alive after being plucked from sea when inflatable toy boat sank off Cork coast
Ann Mooney
TWO men in their 30s are lucky to be alive after being plucked from the sea by a passing trawler when their inflatable toy boat began to sink 2km off the southern coast.
The pair set off on Tuesday afternoon from Robert's Cove beach near Carrigaline in Cork in the inflatable bought in a supermarket for €49.95 and recommended for use only in swimming pools.
RNLI Lifeboat 'Frederick Storey Cockburn'Credit: Alamy Live News
The beach is very sheltered, enclosed by cliffs and experienced sailors believe that once the toy boat drifted into the open sea it was carried by currents and wind into danger.
Today, a spokesman for Crosshaven RNLI said the two men were within minutes of ending up in the sea and without any life jackets or emergency equipment, they could have died from drowning or hypothermia.
He said: "They were very fortunate that one of our former crew members Aengus O'Donovan was on his way back to Crosshaven in his trawler when he spotted them struggling in the tiny inflatable.
'POINT OF NO RETURN'
"They had taken on a lot of water and lost the paddle so they were definitely close to the point of no return.
"I believe they are very lucky to be alive and could have ended up as another statistic. They were so lucky they should go and buy a lottery ticket."
Skipper of the Majestic VI O'Donovan who spotted the two men in the sinking inflatable retrieved them, in a hypothermic state from the sea, with the help of crewman Matthew Byrne.
They wrapped them in warm blankets in the wheelhouse before heading into the home port of Crosshaven.
There at Crosshaven Lifeboat Station expert medical help was on hand to treat them and despite assertions that they should be checked out in hospital the casualties declined to go.
Aengus said: "We were just heading ashore when we came upon the inflatable which was caught by the ebbing tide and the wind, so there was no chance of getting back to land.
"They were sinking having taken on a lot of water and one was trying to bail it out but they didn't have long left before the tiny boat sank.
"If that happened they might never have been found because they had no means of communicating where they were or the danger they were in as their phones took on water and died.
"They had no emergency equipment on board to alert the emergency services and they had no life jackets.
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"One was wearing shorts and the other tracksuit bottoms which was hardly the right gear for a trip out to sea.
"They were very lucky that we came along when we did as with the ebbing tide and the winds they would not have made it back to shore. Instead they would have been taken out to sea."
Aengus retrieved the toy boat from the water and it was destroyed at the lifeboat station.