A north lifeboat crew acted quickly to stop a 50ft yacht from drifting into the path of ships in the Cromarty Firth after it drifted from its berth in stormy seas.
Members of the RNLI’s Invergordon team were called into action when the large sailboat was spotted heading out to sea.
The six members of the Douglas Aikman Smith lifeboat found the yacht to be unmanned, after one of the six-strong crew was transferred onto the other vessel to check.
They said the yacht, which still had a mooring bouy and line attached to its bow, posed a threat to passing ships.
A local tugboat provided a helping hand by intercepting the yacht and attaching a tow-line to it, which was then transferred to the lifeboat.
The yacht was then safely brought into Invergordon’s West Harbour on Friday afternoon, and footage of the rescue effort has now been shared online.
A spokesman on the lifeboat crew’s Facebook page said: “With the added danger of the mooring bouy and line, once alongside, measures were taken to remove this from the vessel.”
