Dramatic rescue attempts as large inflatable duck wanders offshore

After three guys on a huge inflatable duck had to be rescued close to a Devon beach, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) issued a warning to those who would otherwise take inflatables out to sea.

According to eyewitnesses, the men inflated the duck, nicknamed Quackers, at Westward Ho! and transported it out to sea with another friend on an inflatable kayak.

They drifted away from the beach by about 75 metres after five minutes, and one of the friends in the kayak failed to push them back towards land, The Telegraph reported.

When Quackers was 200 metres from the coast, the Coast Guard was alerted.

In an attempt to bring the men back to land, a member of the public paddled out to the duck. The men were able to jump out and swim to safety after he hauled Quackers closer to the shore.

Quackers was blown back out to sea right away.

The Coastguard urged the Appledore RNLI volunteers to help the men in the duck while they were out on their routine Tuesday night training exercise in their inshore and all-weather lifeboats.

The inshore lifeboat arrived as the guys safely returned to land, and crew member Del Elsemore dove in to see how they were doing.

Elsemore said: “The quick thinking of this member of the public with a paddleboard prevented a nasty situation from turning much worse. He was the real lifesaver of the day.”

After the incident on June 6, the lifeboats resumed their practice with Quackers aboard.

A spokeswoman for the RNLI charity said: “With the strong tides and off-shore breezes of the Bristol Channel, Appledore RNLI urges people never to take an inflatable toy into the sea."

She added: “There is no way to control these, and they get pulled out from shore within seconds. If any member of the public sees someone getting into difficulty in the water, please, as this eyewitness did, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard."