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Canoeist rescued in Solent following drinking binge
A drunk canoeist had to be rescued by a lifeboat after he became stranded out in the Solent.
The 26-year-old man from Hill Head paddled out into the wind-swept Solent in a kayak after celebrating England's crushing defeat of Croatia at a Lee-on-the-Solent pub.
The problem was that not only was he wearing just a shorts and a T-shirt but he also eventually lost his single paddle.
Unable to locate his mobile phone, he finally resorted to trying to attract attention by furiously waving his T-shirt in the air.
After spotting his plight from their Lee-on-the-Solent base, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency decided that as the Cowes RNLI Atlantic 85, which was out on a training exercise, was best placed to quickly respond to the obvious emergency.
Although the lifeboat, helmed by Gary Payne, was soon on the scene, the man had already been picked up by a passing fishing boat.
He was transferred to the lifeboat and both he and his kayak were landed at Lee-on-the-Solent where paramedics were waiting to treat him for mild hypothermia.
Mr Payne said the kayak was about one and a half miles off Lee-on-the-Solent when the canoeist sought help.
He added: 'Apparently he had been out in the kayak for about four hours after celebrating in the pub. Another half an hour later it would have been twilight and he might never have been spotted.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North west
