The crew of the Penarth Inshore lifeboat Connie Dains come alongside the mystery boat today.
A wooden clinker-built sailing dinghy has been located drifting and deserted in the Bristol Channel this morning by Penarth Lifeboat.
Penarth’s inshore lifeboat, the D Class Connie Dains, was launched just before noon today to investigate a report of a boat drifting offshore.
The wooden sailing dinghy is secured alongside the lifeboat for manoeuvering into Cardiff Barrage
The half-decked dinghy was about 6 metres long, had no mast and appeared to be waterlogged . There was no one on board and her condition appeared to indicate she had been adrift for some time and had somehow survived the high seas, heavy rain and gales of the last 48 hours or had been washed out to sea.
HM Coastguard HQ at Southampton said later that no one had been reported as missing and no EPIRBs (automatic personal radio distress beacons) had been activated in the area.
The boat has been taken to Cardiff Barrage by Cardiff Harbour Authority for further investigation by Penarth Coastguard.
Looks like a boatman’s dock boat.
Does it have a sculling notch ?
Difficult to tell from the distance these pictures were taken at. HM coastguard said it was a “very,very old boat”.