4 divers lost of Start Point, Devon
Port St Mary's lifeboat crew was due to arrive home to a hero's welcome yesterday (Thursday) after rescuing three men and a woman off the south coast of England when a routine diving exercise nearly ended in tragedy.
Coxswain John Williams and four of his crew were sailing the village's new GBP l.19 million vessel Gough Ritchie II to the Island when they , pulled the four to safety. Actress Celia Greenhalgh, were in the water for nearly two hours before the crew plucked them from the sea.
The four got into difficulties while taking part in a drift dive. Strong currents and high winds caused them to get separated from their,boat and the current carried them away from the shore. Mr Willams, mechanic Eric Quillin, 2nd assistant mechanic Mark Pendlebury, assistant mechanic Paul Fielding and emergency coxswain David Richards left for the Island on Saturday after under-going sea training on their new , boat at the RNLI's training centre in Poole, Dorset.
Her passage was,due to take her via the west coast of Ireland stopping at St Mary's in the Scillies, Valencia, the Aran Islands, Arranmore and Donaghadee before arriving in Port St Mary yesterday.
But off south Devon the crew became involved in an air and sea search for the divers.
Speaking from a phone on board the lifebat, Mark said: 'We were heading towards St Mary's in the Scillies when we got a call on our radio saying that four divers had drifted offshore swept away by strong tide.
Other lifeboats and a Royal Navy helicopter had been launched, but just by chance we were the closest, about 18 miles away from the incident.
'We calculated the likely tidal set and drift, and implemented a search pattern. It took us about 45 minutes to get there, by which time we had found out the divers were in two groups of two and had been missing for about an hour. 'We started to search and discovered two male divers in the water who,were heading down the south Devon coast with the tide at an alarming rate. They were quite calm and were lifted onto the lifeboat. 'We couldn't see the other two, neither could the helicopter, but they were finally located and we noticed two heads bobbing on the top of the water.'
Mark continued: 'The female and male pair had tied themselves together when we found them. She (Celia). was in a wetsuit and was in a bit of distress, clearly suffering from the first stages of hypothermia. Apparently she was an inexperienced diver and was out for the first time. 'She said she was sufficiently aware of what was going on to realise she was rescued, but couldn't understand us because we all had northern accents! 'She was airlifted off the boat to hospital in Plymouth and checked by the doctor in Salcombe but is fine and back home now. 'The divers were caught with the tide and went off-shore. They were very relieved to see us as they were getting quite concerned. All four divers were recovered safely with no injuries. They are very lucky. 'I believe Celia and her parents have joined the lifeboat support group as their way of saying thank you. Then it was just back to business, to continue our journey home.'
Paul Fielding , who dragged the man and the woman from the water commented , ' The worst part for me was going underwater trying to rescue the girl. The lifeboat tipped over slightly as I treied to pull her up and I went under water. My lifejacket went "boom" and inflated because she was holding on for grim life. She was a determined character - she wasn't going to let go in a million years.' He continued : 'The way I see it, the boat has paid for itself within a few hours of leaving Poole - it has helped save four lives.'
Celia, 31, hails from Manchester but works in Lonndon. She has appeared in ITV's The Bill.
Her father, Roy Greenhalgh, said of the Port St Mary crew: 'If it hadn't been for them, Celia would not be with us today. You don't realise the value of the lifeboat service until something like this happens. They were marvellous. 'If that Isle of Man lifeboat had not been on its why home and in the right place to be diverted to join in the search, anything could have happened.'
The 14.26 metre Gough Ritchie 11 will be the Island's only Trent class lifeboat and has a top speed of 25 knots.
John Willams, chairman of RNLI Port St Mary station branch, said: 'This must rank as the longest distance service we have ever carried out and our crew and boat are media celebrities down there:
Source: Manx Independent 1 May 1998
Last edited 07 August 2000