What are you going to tell the coroner - part two

Construction now has its own blog at Anglesey Boat

In rescue situations, there is often a fine line between prompt and decisive action, and having a bit of a think. This was not a standard deep water rescue, and two outcomes looked more likely than a successful recovery of paddler and boat - injuring the casualty through collision, and taking a swim myself. This thinking looked even better in retrospect when it turned out I was the only person not swimming at this moment.

I was getting used to the breaking waves, and was fairly content to stay close and provide moral support when Dave asked for a tow. Luckily, my tow line was behind my seat under my spraydeck (I don't think it would have been much use) which only left one option. With an upwind approach, I managed to turn on a smaller wave and drop the stern of my boat into Dave's very welcoming hands.

Now Dave is not a small chap, and remember he was still holding on to his own water-filled boat. The paddling was interesting - rapid acceleration with each breaking wave and me paddling as hard as possible (no worries about broaching with such a good drogue), and then an abrupt halt as the wave passed - but we were making real progress.

At this point, my footrest failed on the left side, but on a more promising note, Rich arrived and took care of the water-logged boat, so our speed improved and Dave was soon able to walk ashore.

Still had to concentrate a little as the surf landing was not all that friendly - but soon near enough to Dave to hear him comment that he was coughing up blood and freezing cold.

What now?