A north-east lifeboat was called out yesterday morning to help a stricken vessel near Rosehearty.
Fraserburgh Lifeboat was paged by the Coastguard at 12.23am on Sunday when it received an emergency call from a small fishing boat that had lost navigation and steering just west of the tiny village.
The two-man crew of the Vas Lisa could do nothing as their boat began to drift away from the coastline.
It is understood the Anstruther-registered vessel had been making a journey from Fife to the west coast when it ran into difficulty.
Fraserburgh Lifeboat’s duty coxswain Graeme Duthie attended the call along with volunteers Marten Ritchie, AJ Morgan, Nathan Whyte, Stuart Ross, Declan Sutherland and mechanic Shane Richardson.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the charity said the men “left the harbour at high speed in almost pitch darkness”.
“They made contact with the stricken vessel a short time later and set up a tow arriving back at Fraserburgh Harbour not long after.
“The Coastguard met them at the quayside where the Vas Lisa tied up for the night.
“The lifeboat was scrubbed down and refuelled and ready for service at 2.23am – two hours from being paged on one service to being ready for the next one.”
The crew of the lifeboat have to be ready at a moment’s notice for an emergency.
And in an effort to prevent the worst from happening as the summer approaches, they have launched an appeal for beach-goers to employ common sense before going into the water.
Coxswain Victor Sutherland said: “Try to stay with others and not go off by yourself.
“Always let people know where you are and when you’ll be back.
“For any issues on the water, call 999 immediately if possible and try and give them as much information as possible about where the person is, if they’re in the water, what they’re wearing and where they’re drifting.
“The quicker we’re up and going the better. If we go out and are stood down because it’s a false alarm, that’s great.”
