Harbour ‘Drunk, naked man’ and canoeist saved
ACANOEIST is “lucky to be alive” after fire crews found him clinging to a pontoon in Bristol harbour.
Fire crews rescued a 60-yearold man in the early hours of Saturday morning after he fell off his canoe.
Bedminster Fire Service has issued a warning after they rescued a further two people from the docks overnight, as well as a naked drunken man on Friday.
The man was spotted swimming in the harbour while fire crews from Bedminster were out on a training mission on Good Friday.
He was rescued from the water by their Green Watch team.
Sharing the news on Twitter, Bedminster Fire Station said: “While out training in #Bristol docks this evening, #GreenWatch rescued a drunken man from the water. Alcohol and cold water do not mix, just #keepout #waterrescue.”
The post was paired with a picture showing what appears to be a naked man walking up the harbour slipway.
Swimming in any part of Bristol Harbour is banned unless the
Harbour Master has given consent, according to the Bristol City Council website.
Swimming in cold water can be particularly dangerous when intoxicated because alcohol causes the blood vessels to dilate, so there’s a lot more heat lost more quickly.
Other dangers of swimming in the harbour include getting hit by a boat, hazardous or discarded objects under the water, occasional very strong currents due to tides and occasional poor water quality.
The heatwave last June saw many incidents of “irresponsible” swimming by the docks, leading to a warning from the council. The warning came just days after a man died after entering the waters at Narrow Quay.
Last June, wild swimmers staged a series of protests to campaign for the harbour to be opened up to swim in and were threatened with prosecution.
The council subsequently said they were “looking into the possibilities” of opening up the harbour to swimming.