Paddleboarder saved nearly 3km from shore at Portobello

A paddleboarder has been rescued after being blown nearly 3km into the Firth of Forth from Portobello Beach.

UK Coastguard and Kinghorn RNLI were called to help two people who drifted approximately 800m from their launch site in strong offshore winds at around 10am on Sunday.

On arrival, rescuers discovered one paddleboarder had made it safely back to the beach, while the other had drifted 1.6 nautical miles offshore onto the Firth of Forth.

The lifeguard team were able to reach the man just 15 minutes after launching, and brought the “very cold” casualty to shore where Coastguard teams from Fisherrow and Queensferry were waiting to assist.

Kinghorn RNLI helm Neil Chalmers said: “We arrived to find one paddleboarder making it to safety of the beach but one was still unaccounted for. Fortunately, the first informant had managed to keep eyes-on the casualty and stay on the phone to the coastguard. They were able to guide us to the second casualty who we soon located 1.6 nautical miles (2.9km) offshore.

“The male casualty was very cold but had managed to stay on his board whilst the wind blew him further offshore into increasing wave heights. We got him onto the lifeboat and took him back to Portobello beach where coastguard rescue teams from Fisherrow and Queensferry were waiting.

“The man was very lucky to have had someone onshore who kept him in sight and was able to guide the lifeboat to locate him.”

If you see anyone in trouble on the coast you can call 999 and ask for the Coastguard. The UK Coastguard has a range of resources it can call on, including RNLI lifeboats.