Romantic gesture sparks emergency rescue at Holy Island

Aug 18 2010 The Journal

A LOVESTRUCK man sparked an emergency rescue when a romantic gesture put him in danger.

Coastguard officials and members of the RNLI were called in to help rescue the man who decided to swim from the Northumberland mainland to the island of Lindisfarne.

The man, who hasn’t been named by Coastguards, is believed to have been out walking with his girlfriend at an area south of Holy Island, known locally as Guile Point.

The man, who is in his 20s and from York, decided to swim to the island and hire a boat which he then planned to use to return and pick up his girlfriend so they could both enjoy a visit to the island.

The man stripped off to just his boxer shorts and embarked on the swim shortly before 3pm yesterday. Coastguard watch officer Fran Wilkins said: “We got a call at 2.55pm from the man’s girlfriend.

“She said he had gone into the water and that she had lost sight of him. She was very worried.

“He was eventually spotted coming out of the water. He had to swim about half a mile and picked the only time of day when the crossing is possible but it was luck more than planning.

“The tide was at its lowest point and there was no movement of water. If he had tried when the tide was going out he would have been swept into the North Sea.

“The crew which found him had some very stern words of advice for him. He was quite shocked as he knew nothing of the potential tidal power of the area.”

The causeway linking Lindisfarne to the mainland is famous for claiming the cars of motorists who ignore timetable signs warning of dangerous crossings times. Around a dozen vehicles a year are destroyed as foolhardy motorists get stuck as their engines take in water as the rising tide laps around their wheels.

Watch officer Wilkins added: “The man was suggesting he could get a bus back to his girlfriend but wearing only sodden boxer shorts the crew on site thought it would be best to take him back as a matter of public decency.”