Sea Grade

We'll Drink To This Sailor's Foresight

If you're seriously injured during a transatlantic voyage, whom do you call? The Coast Guard? The air force? The navy? Ghostbusters, perhaps? A British sailor called his local pub! Alan Thompson, 61, was in agony after falling on deck and breaking his pelvis on Saturday while sailing 600 nautical miles north-east of Bermuda. Roger Pocock, 62, the landlord of The Bull's Head in Fishbourne, Sussex, said: "We received a call from him saying he was in trouble. I don't know why he didn't put out an SOS." The publican phoned Falmouth Coastguard, which liaised with its American counterparts, who carried out the rescue.

FOOTNOTE: Ship happens.