Lifeboat crew save father and son after boat crashes into rocks

A father and son were rescued after their boat crashed into rocks off the Fife coast.

The men had steering difficulties before their vessel began to flounder in stormy conditions near Crail.

The alarm was raised just before 1am on Wednesday when a passer-by spotted the fluorescent markings of the duo’s lifejackets.

Anstruther Inshore Lifeboat arrived first at the scene and got both men out of their vessel, which is understood to be a refurbished lifeboat.

The pair, from Liverpool, were transferred to Anstruther All-Weather Lifeboat which took them to Anstruther for medical assessment where they were found to be uninjured.

The RNLI said the weather was very poor with gusting winds and heavy rain.

The men were transferring the vessel to the Isle of Man and were on a leg of the journey heading north towards Peterhead.

Rescuers said the boat started to break up on the rocks and will be a total loss.

One of the lifeboat crew provided accommodation for the two men for the rest of the night as they were left with only a mobile phone and a small amount of money.

Alan Purves, of Anstruther RNLI, said: "As far as we're led to believe the men on board said they had steering problems, and whether that meant the streering actually went or not, they ended up ashore.

"Once the boat was on the rocks their lives were in danger. They were actually toying with the idea of abandoning ship. They were lucky to get out of it."

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