DREAD & BOARD
WOMEN SAVED ‘IN THE NICK OF TIME’ Exhausted pair blown a mile out to sea are rescued by RNLI crew
TWO exhausted women were found screaming for help as they clung to their paddleboards hours after being blown out into the North Sea by strong winds.
The UK Coastguard received an emergency call from a member of the public who spotted the duo in difficulty about one mile north of Kingsbarns Beach in Fife on Sunday.
A crew from RNLI Anstruther raced to the scene at about 2.30pm. They found the pair “in the nick of time” as they were being blown further out to sea.
As the boat approached them, one of the women shouted: “We’ve been out here for hours. Thank you so much.”
Her pal later told crew members: “I’ve never paddleboarded before, I followed her. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. I don’t know how we’d have made it back.”
The women were taken back to the beach along with their black and white SUP board.
RNLI volunteer Thomas Bett said: ‘”Clear information made it very straightforward for us to locate the two paddleboarders in the nick of time.
“With wind blowing the two further away from the shore, it was absolutely the correct thing to do in calling for help. We urge anyone who spots someone in difficulty at the coast to dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”
We previously told how a helicopter and lifeboat crews scrambled to save two kids who had drifted out to sea on an inflatable kayak on Saturday afternoon.
The daring rescue took place in the Moray Firth after an adult on the shoreline at Portsoy raised the alarm. The boy and girl were eventually scooped up by the RNLI Macduff crew more than a mile away from the beach.
They were taken back to dry land to be checked over by paramedics.
The RNLI is urging anyone participating in water sports to take a mobile phone, wear suitable clothing and a life jacket and to check the weather forecast before heading out.