If you’re out on the Solent and find yourself capsized, we guess you wouldn’t imagine the captain of a large ferry would be able to do much to help.
Captain Mercer on the Red Eagle on Wednesday afternoon proved otherwise.
After hearing from Southampton VTS (the Port of Southampton control tower) that a catamaran had capsized near the West Bramble light buoy he put his crew on full alert.
It wasn’t long before they spotted the capsized Hobie catamaran close to the Thorn Knoll light buoy in the central Solent.
We’re told that Captain Mercer discovered the two sailors in the water struggling unsuccessfully to right their catamaran.
Using his 46 years experience at sea, he manoeuvred the Red Eagle to protect the catamaran from the effects of wind and waves. With the protection of this Red Funnel vehicle ferry, the stricken sailors were able to right their boat and continue on their way.
Robin Baker, Head of Fleet Operations at Red Funnel commented “Captain Mercer demonstrated exceptional seamanship in the way he manoeuvred the Red Eagle to provide protection for the sailors enabling them to get back on board and right their boat.”
A happy ending for all.
