Volunteers at the RNLI lifeboat station in Oban were kept on their feet as they attended multiple call-outs in the space of 24 hours.
Sunday, September 12 proved to be a hectic day for the team as they spent over seven hours at sea in response to three separate call-outs.
The lifeboat was first dispatched at 8.15am to reports of a swimmer in difficulty at the Corran Narrows. Fortunately the swimmer was able to make it back to the group they were with, unaided, and the life boat returned to the base at around 9am.
The next call came at around 10pm, when concerns were raised regarding a fishing boat that had not arrived at its planned destination.
The vessel, with one person aboard, had departed Dunstaffnage marina earlier in the day but was overdue and it was understood that the vessel had limited means of calling for help onboard.
The lifeboat was launched and while searching the area the fishing boat was found safe and well. The lifeboat returned, ready for service at around 11.35pm.
The period between the second and third call-out allowed for the volunteers to catch up on some sleep however it wasn’t long before the alarm was raised again.
All in a day’s work
This call-out, at around 3.15am, was to assist a yacht which had run aground in the popular anchorage of Puilladobhrain, at the north end of Seil island.
The lifeboat team arrived to find four people on board a yacht which was listing heavily.
The decision was made to transfer three of the four people on the yacht to the lifeboat as the tide continued to drop which could have caused the vessel to tip over.
The yacht’s skipper stayed on board while the lifeboat returned to Oban, to transfer the the three people ashore and wait for the tide to rise.
Arriving back on scene by 7am, two crew members proceeded over to the yacht and assisted the skipper in lifting the vessel’s anchor.
There were concerns about the vessel’s manoeuvrability but once it was refloated there was found to be no damage sustained and the yacht sailed on to Oban with the rest of the crew back on board.
This string of call-outs marks the 400th for mechanic Tom Kennedy, who joined the volunteers at Oban RNLI in 2016 and is responsible for the safe running of the lifeboats.