Family sailing around Britain rescued from yacht off Scots coast

A family sailing around Britain had to be rescued from a yacht off the coast of East Lothian.

HM Coastguard paged Dunbar RNLI on Sunday for assistance at 1.45pm after the propeller and rudder of the motor yacht became entangled, leaving the vessel snared and unable to steer.

The all-weather lifeboat John Neville Taylor launched from Dunbar Harbour and was on scene 30 minutes later.

The family on board had been travelling from Holy Island, Northumberland, to Edinburgh as part of a round Britain trip.

Family sailing around Britain rescued from yacht off Scots coast RNLI/Ian Wilson

After assessing all available options, coxswain Gary Fairbairn advised the skipper how to cut his boat free before setting up a tow to bring the yacht into Dunbar Harbour.

As the lifeboat neared the harbour entrance, the crew brought the larger vessel alongside ahead of the delicate transfer through the narrow harbour entrance.

The yacht was safely berthed at 4pm, with the crew none the worse for their ordeal.

It was the second call out in 48 hours and the fourth in ten days for the Dunbar volunteers.

Lifeboat Operations Manager Ian Wilson said: “It’s been a busy and varied few days for our lifeboats and the crews have responded brilliantly, particularly today when it was wonderful to watch the skills of coxswain Gary and his crew confidently bringing two big boats through a relatively small gap into the harbour.

“If you get into trouble on the water, dial 999 and ask for the coastguard.”