HELENSBURGH'S volunteer lifeboat crew was called out to three alerts in the space of a single day, it's been revealed.
The three callouts all happened on Friday, August 25 - taking the number of alerts for the local RNLI crew to almost 50 since the start of the year.
The lifeboat's first launch on Friday came after the crew received an alert from His Majesty’s Coast Guard [HMCG] to help a person in the water at Cove.
When the lifeboat arrived at the scene it was found that the individual had made it safely back to the shore.
However, while the crew was returning to their base at Rhu Marina, they got a second call from the coastguard - this time asking them to search for a yacht which had activated its emergency position-indicating radio beacon.
The crew found nothing during their extensive search of the shore, but later located the yacht tied up at Rosneath’s RB Marine yard.
The lifeboat's third callout on Friday saw the crew asked to go to the aid of two people who had got stuck in the estuary mud off Milton.
The low tide meant the lfeboat was unable to get into the short, but two crew members went ashore to help an HM Coastguard rescue team on land, and the two people were quickly extracted from the mud and returned to shore safe and well.
The lifeboat crew has been called out on five separate occasions in the last 10 days - including an alert on Friday, August 18 when the coastguard asked for the urgent launch of the boat to help a 21-foot yacht with three people on board at the entrance to Loch Long.
The lifeboat was stood down after the coastguard confirmed those on board had made it safely to shore after being recovered by the tender from Cove Sailing Club.
On the way back to Rhu Marina, however, the coastguard asked the lifeboat crew to investigate a report of a 33-foot yacht aground at Rhu Spit on the Rosneath shore, after breaking free from a mooring.
This time, when the crew arrived on scene, it was found that no help was required as a workboat was recovering the yacht.
Local operations manager, Howard Morrison, said: “We have had an exceptionally busy period.
“Our crew are on call 24/7, 365 days a year and they are ready to respond within minutes to people in difficulty on the water.
“We urge people to stay safe, check their equipment and wear a lifejacket if they are taking part in activities on the water.”
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