A MAN was taken to hospital with suspected hypothermia after the coastguard were called to help the same boat twice in 24 hours.
Thames Coastguard were called to a 20ft motorboat, called the Dolphin, following 999 calls from the crew and members of the public saying the vessel was stranded on rocks.
Clacton RNLI Inshore Lifeboats and Clacton Coastguard were sent to the rescue at 3.19pm yesterday.
They found that two men had already swum to the shore and rescued a third from rocks near Jaywick.
He was then taken to Colchester Hospital with chest pains and suspected hypothermia.
It is the second time in two days that the emergency services have assisted the Dolphin.
At 3pm on Wednesday a coastguard and RAF search and rescue helicopter was scrambled after the boat’s crew, who set off from Canvey Island on their way to Harwich, ran aground in an unknown location.
The helicopter located the boat on the Foulness Sands and offered to winch the three men to shore, but they declined.
A spokeswoman for the coastguard said the men, who were given safety advice, insisted on remaining on board and continued their journey despite not having charts, VHF radio or any flares.
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