A routine rescue of a stricken yacht turned into a 12 hour marathon mission for a lifeboat crew from Barra.
The Isle of Barra Lifeboat, Edna Windsor, was called out at around 8.50pm on Thursday – but didn’t return to base until 9.15am on Friday after struggling to remove the damaged yacht from a South Uist sea loch.
The yacht Rebel had grounded on a reef just inside the entrance to Loch Skipport on the north east coast of the Outer Hebridean island
The boat, which had two crew members on board, had become stuck after the tide dropped.
But due to the low water the lifeboat team were unable to remove the stricken vessel from where it had beached on the rocks.
The lifeboat had arrived on the scene at around 10.15pm – but due to the low tide they waited until 2am before making an attempt to tow the yacht off the reef.
The crew used a smaller Y-class lifeboat because the water was too low for their larger main vehicle to approach the yacht.
However, this attempt failed and they were unable to tow the boat clear until 3.45am.
A spokesman for the lifeboat crew said that the yacht had sustained “serious damage” to its hull and rudder.
The lifeboat crew then towed the stricken yacht to the safe harbour at Lochboisdale, also on South Uist, with its two crew still on board.
The yacht remains in the harbour awaiting repair.
Barra Lifeboat’s depute second coxswain Ronald MacLean said: “It was a long shout as we remained on the scene in anticipation of the yacht refloating as the tide came in.
“This was done successfully with the aid of the Y boat.”
The lifeboat crew finally made it back to their base in Castlebay at 9.15am after the long night;s work.