A lone sailor that got into difficulties on the river Orwell was taken to safety at Woolverstone marina.

RNLI volunteers from Harwich responded to reports of a broken down 3.5 metre vessel in the north of Levington Marina.

After arriving on scene and assessing the situation, it was deemed the safest option was to tow the vessel and its single occupant back to The Royal Harwich Yacht Club, at Woolverstone.

Once the casualty vessel was safely secured, the lifeboat and its crew were released to return to station. The lifeboat was refuelled and readied for its next call out by 10:15pm.

Once on scene the volunteers attempted to free the yacht without success. After discussing the options with the five occupants, the occupants decided to stay on-board and wait for low tide, to hopefully free themselves. The lifeboat and crew returned to station, and were ready for service again by 3:30pm.

Tips on enjoying the coastline safely throughout the year, for all types of activities, are available at: rnli.org.uk