A north-east port has its lifeboat back after more than a year being served by a temporary vessel.
The Peterhead-based Misses Robertson of Kintail had been at the RNLI’s HQ at Poole in Dorset for a refit and modifications to its hull.
The return trip took almost four days as the boat stopped at a number of lifeboat stations along the way.
The Peterhead crew were joined by members of the Longhope lifeboat on the journey.
However, it was not all plain sailing as the crew had to cope with bad weather and poor visibility as they tried to navigate around scores of offshore wind turbines near Dover.
The boat made it safely back to Peterhead and took to the water for its first exercise last night.
David Anderson, volunteer press officer for the Peterhead lifeboat, said: “Having been without her for more than a year it was nice to get our own boat back again.”
Sea conditions were perfect when the crew left Poole but deteriorated off Dover, with fog forming and visibility becoming poor.
This was a concern when negotiating waters around the vast numbers of offshore wind turbines in the Thames estuary, many of which were hidden by the fog.
Kevin Kirkpatrick coxswain of Longhope lifeboat said: “All the lifeboat stations we visited on passage gave us a really warm welcome and we would like to thank them very much for their hospitality.
“This includes Eastbourne, Lowestoft, Scarborough and Eyemouth stations.”
The Misses Robertson of Kintail is the 10th lifeboat in the history of Peterhead station, and was the first Tamar lifeboat in service in Scotland when it arrived in the port in spring 2006.