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Friday 24 March 2023 Dublin: 11°C
# darwin nominees
Two men set out into the North Sea in this £9 homemade boat. It didn't end well
Without a paddle…

Tweet by @Clacton RNLI Clacton RNLI / Twitter Clacton RNLI / Twitter / Twitter

TWO MEN HAD to be rescued from the North Sea after setting out on board the craft shown here over the weekend.

The pair – both in their 20s, neither of whom were wearing lifejackets – called for help after their oars broke and they drifted around 200 metres off the coast of Essex.

“A lot of people may have been working on their homes over Easter – but this was a rather hasty DIY project which nearly landed them in trouble,” Joff Strutt of Clacton RNLI said – according to The Guardian.

“They had been out fishing the previous day and decided to give it another go on Monday.

At the end of the day’s fishing, they found themselves too far out at sea. Their oars weren’t strong enough and they weren’t wearing lifejackets. Fortunately nobody was hurt and they’ve learned a lesson.

Local publication the Clacton Gazette reports that the small boat cost the pair just £9 to construct – out of loft insulation, plywood and wire coat hangers.

An RNLI craft was sent the help the men after they called the Thames Coastguard from a mobile phone.

Read: The Gardaí have a new fleet of cars – and they’ve taken to Facebook to show them off

Read: Man killed after plane crashes at Co Down airfield

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