Two vehicles that were caught in the tide and submerged at Margate have now been retrieved from the water.
The caddy van and a 4×4 were swamped by the incoming tide yesterday afternoon (May 15) at the ‘rendezvous’ slipway at the rear of Turner Contemporary and by the Margate RNLI station.
The vehicles belong to Margate resident Steven Holland and a friend who had been jetskiing but hit trouble when they tried to pull the skis in. The car became stuck and then the clutch failed on the caddy van.
HM Coastguard Margate were tasked by UK Coastguard to attend this incident to provide safety cover and Kent Police and the RNLI were also notified.
However, a rescue was not possible. Steven and friends have since managed to recover the van and car.
Steven said: “We went out on the skis, then went to pull them back in and the Freelander got stuck. I tried to pull it free with the white van and then my van started to get stuck.
“Then my clutch went and we were unable to pull it free so just locked it up and watched from the ramp. We called the coastguard and they arrived when the water was just touching the back of my van.
“They said it is against the law for them to pull them out so we couldn’t do anything but have some fun, as was seen with us using them as diving boards. As soon as the tide went out we got some of our friends from out the area to pull the van and car out.
“I got towed home last night and I went back down there this morning with my other van to tow my mate’s Freelander.
“All the vehicles are back home and going to live a new life at the scrap yard! I was gutted as all my work tools were in the van.
“But I will move on to bigger and better things. You just have to learn from your mistakes.”
