RNLI crews from Fife stations have been scrambled to four emergencies in less than 48 hours after a busy weekend of incidents.
The volunteer crew at Kinghorn lifeboat station were despatched shortly after 3pm on Saturday after receiving reports of two males in difficulty after their kayak has capsized.
The crews entered the water at 3.20pm in search of the two men near Inchkeith who had used a mobile phone to raise the alarm.
The pair had managed to reach Inchkeith Island in the Forth and were on the island requiring assistance.
A spokesman for the Kinghorn station said: “The lifeboat arrived around 3.37pm on April 24 and found the two casualties out of the water at the bottom of a cliff on the west side of the island.
“They were brought onto the lifeboat and checked over before being taken to Kinghorn where an ambulance crew was waiting to assess them.
Helm, Mike Chalmers added: ‘The two men had set off from Pettycur in an inflatable kayak.
“They had managed to get to the island but then got into difficulty.
“Fortunately, they managed to get ashore and call for help.
“We quickly located the two casualties and returned them to Kinghorn.
“We then relaunched and returned to Inchkeith to recover the kayak and equipment to prevent it floating away and potentially result in a further callout for us.”
Second incident
Just three hours earlier and just a short distance along the Fife coast, Anstruther RNLI crew were called out after receiving an alert from the UK Coastguard that a vessel was in difficulty near May Island in the Firth of Forth.
An RNLI spokesperson, said: “At 12.42pm on Saturday, April 24, the UK Coastguard were alerted to a vessel in difficulty near to the May Island.
“The station’s inshore lifeboat launched and assisted the vessel back to the safety of Anstruther harbour.”
Third incident
Just a short time after returning to Anstruther harbour crews were scrambled once more after receiving a call to assist in the rescue of a female walker injured at a Fife beauty spot.
“While washing down the boat and kit, both lifeboats were immediately tasked to a female walker with a suspected broken leg near to Fife Ness,” said a spokesperson.
“Arriving first, the crew aboard the inshore lifeboat administered casualty care before passing the lady into the safe hands of the Scottish Ambulance Service.”
Just 24 hours earlier the Anstruther crews were called rescue a female injured at the notorious Elie Chain Walk in what has already proved a busy weekend of emergency incidents for the volunteers.
“Both boats launched to a female who had injured herself while enjoying the Elie Chain Walk,” said the spokesperson.
“After reaching the location the inshore lifeboat team assessed the woman’s condition and transferred her to Elie Harbour and waiting paramedics.”