A man had to be rescued by a lifeboat crew after his jet-ski became tangled in a fishing line off the north-east coast.
Gary Andrew had been making the most of the sunny weather and calm seas by fishing off Boyne Bay Quarry, near Portsoy.
But when the propeller system of his Sea-Doo RXP 215 supercharged jet ski became tangled in some loose netting, he was forced to call for help to get him back to dry land safely.
A lifeboat was launched from Buckie shortly after 2pm to assist the 33-year-old and help him back to shore.
He was returned to Portsoy Harbour at about 3pm, where he described the rescue ordeal as an “unfortunate situation”.
Mr Andrew said he usually brought a knife with him on his fishing trips – but had forgotten to do so on the one trip where it was required.
He said: “Normally, I always bring a knife with me, and if I had done that, I could have cut the propeller free myself.
“But it’s just sod’s law that I forgot it and had to call for the lifeboat.”
The Portsoy resident has brought a water-resistant mobile phone with him and that proved instrumenmtal in a .
The seasoned fisherman has regularly enjoyed fishing trips on his powerful watercraft, saying it offered him “more freedom” than casting his lines from the shore.
A spokesman for the Coastguard service said: “We received a call about a man in trouble off Boyne Bay Quarry at 2.05pm.
“His jet-ski had become caught up and tangled in some fishing line, so he couldn’t move.
“The Buckie lifeboat was launched and towed him back into Portsoy at about 3pm.”
The crew from the Moray town was called out earlier this week when a blaze broke out aboard a yacht just off the coast of Findochty.
They recovered the 33-foot vessel, and a male occupant was treated for injuries to his hand.
