A fisherman was rescued yesterday after a passerby saw him waving a white flag as stormy weather dragged him out to sea.
The pensioner was heading back into shore when the motor of the Findochty-registered Integrity failed.
Although the engine of the creel boat was still running, it was failing to rotate the propeller, which meant he was powerless to avoid drifting further from the shore.
With no mobile phone or working radio, the lone sailor began desperately waving a white flag in distress.
After more than an hour of frantic gestures to try and attract attention, a passer-by spotted him off Craigenroan island, off of Portessie Bay and raised the alarm.
Aberdeen Coastguard received the call at about 3.20pm, and Buckie lifeboat was launched shortly after.
The RNLI crew towed the boat back into Buckie Harbour, and the fisherman was back on dry land within an hour.
Coastguard officers interviewed him on the circumstances surrounding the incident, before family members met him at dockside.
The shaken man declined to comment on his ordeal and was promptly taken back to his home.
A coastguard spokeswoman said: “The original call came into us at 3.20pm.
“We had a report from somebody saying there was a boat off Buckie signalling for help.
“It looked like somebody on board that boat was waving a flag.
“From there we asked the Buckie lifeboat to go and also the coastguard rescue team from Buckie had to stand by.
“The lifeboat took the vessel back to Buckie Harbour where they were met by the coastguard rescue team.”
Last night, a local councillor in the historic fishing town stressed the importance of safe practice at sea.
Gordon Cowie said: “As general rule of thumb, I’d encourage all would-be sailors to carry out thorough checks to make sure they have got everything they might need when going out to sea.
“I’m thankful that in this situation led to nothing more serious and that nobody was hurt, which is a credit to the hard work and swift response of the coastguard and lifeboat crews.”
The rescue concluded a busy 22-hour stint for the Buckie lifeboat team, as they formed part of a major overnight search for a “high risk” missing teenager.
Just before 6.30pm on Monday, the crew were asked to search the area around Lossiemouth harbour for the boy, believed to be about 15.
Coastguard teams in Lossiemouth and Burghead were also tasked with assisting the operation shortly after 9pm.
Officers were also searching on land, while a search and rescue helicopter from Inverness was also enlisted.
However, at about 2am the emergency services were stood down as the teenager was traced in Forres.
A police spokeswoman said yesterday: “We received a call about concern for a teenager in the Lossiemouth area at around 6.20pm on Monday.
“Police were assisted by the coastguard with searches and the individual was traced safe and well in the Forres area at around 2am.”