The Kyle lifeboat crew responded to two separate boat grounding incidents today.
The rescue effort for the volunteer team at Kyle RNLI started in the early hours at 12.40am when the launched to help a yacht aground in Applecross.
The vessel had lost all electrical power, dragging its anchor and ending up aground on rocks.
Amid rough conditions, the lifeboat called Kyle lifeboat Spirit of Fred Olsen arrived on scene at 1am and was assisted by another nearby yacht to locate the stricken yacht which was completely in darkness.
A crew member went aboard to make sure those on board were not injured.
The lifeboat towed the yacht free, and the crew recovered the dragging anchor.
There was no major damage or water ingress and the yacht’s engine was running fine.
However, as it had no other electrical power the crew had no navigation equipment or lights. It was therefore decided that the safest course of action would be for the yacht to follow the lifeboat back to Kyleakin harbour.
At 3.30am the yacht was safely escorted into the harbour and the lifeboat returned to the station at 3:45am.
Twelve hours later at 3.51pm the pagers sounded again. This was after a 7-metre rigid inflatable boat with five people and a dog on board broke down in the Duirinish area and drifted onto the rocky shoreline.
The lifeboat arrived on scene at 4:15pm and managed to attach a tow to the casualty vessel before proceeding slowly through rough seas towards Kyleakin harbour.
At 5.15pm they arrived in Kyleakin where a local UK Coastguard unit was waiting to assist.
With the vessel secured and all persons and the dog safe, the lifeboat was then stood down and returned to station where it was refuelled and made ready for service by 5.40pm.