A ‘CAPTAIN Catastrophe’ who set sail in a homemade raft had to be rescued off the coast of Charmouth.

Sailor Hector Bird, 38, was warned he could have drowned after launching his ‘contraption’, despite warnings from worried coastguards.

Mr Bird, of Fernhill Heights, Charmouth, knocked up the boat at his home from pieces of wood and a metal bedstead before setting sail from the village beach for a spot of fishing.

A member of the public raised the alarm just before 4pm last Wednesday when the 6ft raft was seen drifting towards Lyme Regis.

Mr Bird was spotted about 250 metres off the coast, struggling to make headway in calm conditions with only wooden paddles.

Lyme Regis Coastguard station officer Graham Turner said: “He started off by making this contraption several weeks ago.

“Although it’s a heap, he must have spent a lot of time doing it, but it’s not classed as seaworthy.

“One of the coastguards saw him a few days before and he told him he mustn’t go in the sea with it, although we have no jurisdiction to stop people.”

The same coastguard officer saw Mr Bird on the day he launched for his maiden voyage and again warned him not to set sail.

“There was an offshore wind and the tide was dropping so he had both against him,” said Mr Turner. “He had no chance – he would never have got back to the shore himself and he was heading to the groynes in the Church Cliff area of Lyme Regis.”

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched to assist and towed the raft back to Charmouth beach where Mr Bird was met by coastguards.

Mr Turner said: “At first he refused the lifeboat’s assistance.

“He was drifting quite rapidly to the west of Charmouth and we insisted he was brought back to shore. The lifeboat went aside and pulled him back to shore.”

The Coastguard spokesman added: “It was just a weird, bizarre craft that looks like two coffin-shaped floats connected by a lump of woodwork in the middle.

“The coastguards gave the sailor some safety advice along the lines of: ‘you’re going to drown if you go out in that thing’.”

But rescuers fear their advice will be ignored.

Mr Turner said: “This guy has a beach mooring on Charmouth Beach for six months, so the contraption is there for him to launch whenever he wants and there is nothing we can do about it.

“Unfortunately, he will obviously re-launch and we will no doubt be called again, as well as the Lifeboat.”

The Bridport News has been unable to contact Mr Bird.