MVS in Dorset Rescue
Days before Christmas, Phil Hudson and Dave Budd of the MVS in Christchurch, were carrying out routine boat maintenance near Christchurch Quay when they were alerted by shouts from the shore.
A man was in the water and in trouble.
The pair launched the D-Class lifeboat which was moored alongside and raced to the scene where a boater was clinging to the side of his upturned dinghy.
It appears that he had gone out to his boat in the dinghy and, at the point of clambering aboard it capsized due to the amount of water in the boat from recent rain.
Luckily he attracted the attention of walkers on the Quay who alerted the MVS on their patrol boat.
Although cold and soaked, the boater recovered quickly from his ordeal.
As the tide was still high and the water temperature was very cold, it was fortunate that the MVS members were at hand, as hypothermia could have resulted from even a short exposure.