Rescuers have refloated a small cabin cruiser which ran aground after overshooting the entrance to Wick harbour.
The 30ft vessel, called The Lady Russell, got into difficulty at Proudfoot, north of the town, just after 5am.
It sailed past the entrance to Wick Harbour after sailing from Inverness.
The skipper, Will Grant, who was alone onboard, was uninjured and was rescued by Wick lifeboat.
The crew stayed on scene until 11am when the high tide allowed the vessel to be refloated.
They also patched up a hole in the body of the boat, caused by the grounding.
The stricken boat was taken to Wick Harbour, where Mr Grant had arranged for a crane to lift it out of the water and onto the pier for repair.
He thanked his rescuers yesterday.
Mr Grant said: “They were there really quickly and were brilliant.
“They towed the boat off successfully and I am really chuffed that it’s not badly damaged.”
A spokesman for Shetland Coastguard, which coordinated the rescue, said: “The lifeboat crew was on standby to refloat the vessel when high tide came in.”
He said: “There was a fist-sized hole in the boat but the lifeboat crew plugged it.
“The owner arranged a crane at the harbour to lift it out for repairs.”
Meanwhile, the Loch Ness RNLIlifeboat crew was called out after reports of a drifting boat on the waterway.
The abandoned vessel was spotted at around 11.30am north of Urquhart Bay.
A spokesman for Aberdeen Coastguard said that it was thought that the open boat had probably broken free of its moorings.
He added that the lifeboat crew would tow it back to their base at Temple Pier, where local Coastguards would also attend.