Bungling sailor used a road map to circumnavigate the UK... and ended up sailing round Isle of Sheppey for 36 hours



A would-be sailor bought a motor cruiser on the internet then set off on a round-Britain trip armed with nothing more than a road map and a radio he didn't know how to use.

Little wonder then, that the bungling mariner took a wrong turn shortly after setting out from Gillingham and ended up circling the Isle of Sheppey.

The 45-year-old man, who has not been named, had to be rescued after running out of fuel have gone round the eight-mile wide island for a day-and-a-half.

Grand plan: Coastguard officers speak to the man after he set off for Southampton from Kent and got lost

Rescuer Tom Ware said: 'Because he had no chart, his general principle was to keep the land on his right, except he didn't realise Sheppey was an Island.

'It took him a day-and-a-half to get from Gillingham to where he ran out of fuel.'

The boat only had a 20-litre fuel tank and a 20 horse power engine - not designed for sea use.



The sailor thought that because he could drive in his car to Southampton using a single tank of fuel, he only needed one tank of fuel for the vessel.

He also made the mistake of taking a VHF radio, but did not know how to use it and he had no provisions onboard.















Coastguards, who met the man at Queenborough, advised him that engine sizes and therefore fuel consumption differs and the coast route was longer than the road distance in any case.



Coastguard Ian Goodwin said: 'We passed on relevant safety advice and advised him that the best way to Southampton would be by train.



'However, he said he would get some fuel and get under way but asked us if he went left or right when he came out of the Swale.'



It is not known whether the man made it to Southampton.

