Kyle RNLI called to yacht aground on a rock at Eilean Donan Castle
This morning Kyle RNLI were called out to the area around Eilean Donan Castle for the second time in 3 days. This time, a yacht with 6 persons on board had ran aground on a rock next to the iconic landmark
Kyle lifeboat The Spirit of Fred. Olsen launched at 10:42am, after the UK Coastguard received reports of a 13 metre yacht aground on a rock next to the Castle at the mouth of Loch Duich. The lifeboat arrived on scene at 10:55am and found the yacht hard aground on the rock, with a rapidly dropping tide.
A crew member transferred onto the casualty vessel to assess the situation, and it was decided the best course of action was to try and free the yacht from the rock. The lifeboat took the vessel under tow, and even though it was hard aground, the crew managed to free the yacht at 11:15am. Once the yacht was free, it was able to continue its journey under its own power, therefore the lifeboat was stood down and returned to station at 11:33am.
Speaking of the incident, a Kyle RNLI spokesperson said: ‘The yacht was well and truly stuck on the rock shortly after high tide. Due to the steep rock completely drying out at low tide, and with very big tides at the moment, it was decided there was a significant chance of the yacht sustaining a substantial amount of damage if it was left until the next high tide. Therefore, the crew decided to try and gently tow the yacht free from the rock.’
Notes to editors
· For further details of the casualty vessel, please contact Stornoway Coastguard
· Please credit the pictures to Kyle RNLI
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Martin Macnamara, Regional Media Officer (Scotland), 07920 365929 or [email protected]
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