West Bay: The Titanic sinks...again
10:00am Thursday 9th June 2011
A BOAT called Titanic 2 lived up to its name when it sank at
West Bay.
Mark Wilkinson had to abandon ship when the vessel went down as it returned into the harbour last Friday at 10.45am.
Coastguards and harbourmaster James Radcliffe were called into action to help moor the Titanic 2 as Mr Wilkinson climbed out of the water.
Witness Margaret O’Callaghan, from
Bridport, saw the boat go down and caught it on camera.
She said: “The guy was in a small cruiser on his own.
“Someone said to me, ‘That boat is sinking.’ “He was coming into the harbour and the back of the boat was going down.
“I shouted at him to jump as the back of the boat went right down and the bow was sticking out of the water.
“He was clinging onto the nose and the tide was taking the boat in.
“Someone threw a rope and tied it up to the side.
“The harbour master came out in a rib and managed to secure it and get it onto the slip way.
“The funny thing about it was that the name of the boat was Titanic 2.”
Mrs O’Callaghan had recently broken her leg and was in a wheelchair on the West Bay front when the incident happened.
She added: “The guy seemed fine. He was a big, beefy guy in his 40s. He got out and was standing on the side smoking and dripping, trying to get dry.”
Mr Wilkinson, from Birmingham, was at the start of a holiday in Dorset and was going out on a trip when the boat began to take on water.
He said: “My thanks go to the coastguards and the harbourmaster for all of their help.”
West Bay coastguards attended as the drama unfolded.
The harbourmaster helped Mr Wilkinson lift the boat onto a trailer before it was towed away for repairs.
Portland Coastguard said that Mr Wilkinson was unhurt.
A spokesman said: “We got a 999 call about a boat which was sinking.
“West Bay coastguard officers attended and the harbourmaster was on scene.”
He added that they got a line on the partly sunk boat and secured it to the harbour wall.”
Harbourmaster Mr Radcliffe said that it was believed that an old repair job had come apart and caused the boat to take on water.
I'm not superstitious... but....
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