Two men have been rescued in the Firth of Forth after getting into difficulty during a trip out on the water.
Members of the Kinghorn RNLI lifeboat crew responded to a 999 call made by one of the men aboard a 10-foot dinghy which had been drifting eastwards on Saturday afternoon.
It is understood the small vessel suffered engine failure between Pettycur and Inchkeith, while the wind had also picked up and caused the dinghy to float towards the main shipping channel.
Fortunately, one of the men had a mobile phone signal and was able to raise the alarm, although information was initially limited as the people onboard were unsure of where they were.
Lifeboat helm Neil Chalmers said: “The Coastguard was able to establish that they thought the vessel was probably to the north east of the island.
‘We arrived at Inchkeith around four minutes after launch, and began a search around the island.
“Fortunately, our operations manager was looking out to the search area, and further to the east, when he spotted a small vessel.
“We quickly made our way to the area of this sighting, where we spotted the vessel.”
The two casualties were taken aboard the lifeboat, where they were found to be cold but uninjured.
The two men were provided with lifejackets, and the dinghy was taken in tow back to Kinghorn, where Kinghorn Coastguard Rescue Team was on hand to assist.
Mr Chalmers added: “We would always recommend that people are properly prepared before setting out on trips like this, especially on open water, such as the Forth.
“Necessary equipment should also include lifejackets, a VHF radio, flares, suitable all-weather clothing, a well maintained engine and a craft suitable for the conditions.
“Fortunately this callout had a successful outcome, with no loss of life, although both men were lucky that they were able to call for help on their mobile.”
http://rnli.org/Pages/Video-Details.aspx?VideoItemID=2qlvRsYT
