A CORNISH fishing boat was almost broken in half by a huge wave in the western part of the English Channel yesterday.
A helicopter from the Royal Naval Air Station at Culdrose has airlifted a fisherman from the sea after his boat was tipped over by the wave.
The fishing boat, called the Donna Mary, capsized just outside Porthleven harbour. Local coastguards said one of the crew made his way to shore while the other was rescued by the helicopter.He was flown to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske suffering from cold and exhaustion.
Nina Schofield, a who was on holiday near the harbour at the time Holidaymaker Nina Schofield, witnessed the incident and managed to capture the moment the fishing boat capsized on camera.
She told BBC Cornwall: "I was taking a picture thinking it was a really lovely scene and out of the blue a huge wave came and literally flipped the boat over."She said that for the next 15 minutes people on the shore were trying to get to the stricken sailor."Your heart was in your mouth thinking 'please make it' because he couldn't get into the shore," she said."It was quite scary."The Donna May, which was virtually broken in two by the wave, was washed into shore by the tide before being washed out again and sinking. Falmouth Coastguard said that attempts will be made to salvage it once weather conditions improve.
In a more bizarre incident three West Australian fishermen were lucky to escape with their lives coast after their boat was struck by what they believe to be a whale and sank in rough seas. .The men abandoned their trawler after striking something "solid", and were eventually rescued by the crew of an oil-drilling vessel. The fishermen were shaken, but otherwise unhurt.
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