Volunteer lifesavers battled through the night to rescue the crew of a stricken fishing vessel.
Anstruther RNLI braved stormy seas for five hours to tow the 56ft vessel to safety.
A crew was paged shortly before 10pm on Monday night to a report of a fishing boat in difficulty and launched the all-weather lifeboat, the Kingdom of Fife.
Rope had tangled round the propeller of the Grianan Oir, causing it to lose power six miles east of Fife Ness.
The Anstruther crew reached the vessel shortly after 11pm.
It was 4am before they brought it and its crew safely back to Anstruther Harbour, where the vessel remained on Tuesday morning.
While most people were still asleep, the lifeboat volunteers spent another hour-and-a-half returning the Kingdom of Fife to her berth, ready for her next shout.
Martin Macnamara, publicity officer for Anstruther RNLI, said: “The lifeboat crew set up a tow, and the boats made the slow and challenging sail back to the shelter of Anstruther Harbour.
“Both boats arrived back in Anstruther shortly after 4am.
“The fishing vessel was tied up by the Anstruther lifeboat shore team, who then recovered the lifeboat back into the station ready for the next call.
“The Anstruther RNLI volunteers headed home for some sleep at 5.30am, before they continue with their Tuesdays.”
