The Regional Operational Center for Maritime Surveillance and Rescue (Cross) Gris-Nez is regularly, even daily, called upon to organize rescue operations for migrants trying to reach Great Britain by crossing the Channel on makeshift boats. As a result, the operators were somewhat surprised when they were contacted on Thursday morning for a man who was trying the adventure in the other direction.
It was therefore very early, Thursday morning, that the Cross received an alert message from a fishing vessel. While teasing the cod, the crew members noticed that a man was hanging on the “Colbart nord” signaling buoy, located in the middle of the Strait of Pas-de-Calais.
Inflatable kayak crossing
A very uncomfortable position for the man in question, and dangerous too. The Cross therefore asked the fishing vessel to recover the castaway to bring him to safety on board. The man, a Briton in his thirties, was able to explain to the fishermen what he was doing there. Two days earlier, he had left the English coast aboard an inflatable kayak with the idea of crossing the Channel and joining the French coast. In vain. But why had he engaged in such a perilous affair? According to the maritime prefecture (Premar), contacted by 20 minutes, the motivations of the castaway “are not very clear. “The investigations of the maritime gendarmerie seem however to dismiss “the sporting exploit project. »
The failure of the Briton’s attempt had consequences for his health. Indeed, after two days in the cold and turbulent waters of the English Channel, he “suffered from hypothermia, general fatigue and dehydration”, according to Premar. It was therefore in the helicopter of the French Navy that he made the second half of the journey, to the hospital in Boulogne-sur-Mer.