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Sailor’s malfunctioning emergency gear has Kyle lifeboat and UK coastguard helicopter scrambling to yacht’s assistance in the Kylerhea narrows near Skye





The Kyle RNLI lifeboat Spirit of Fred. Olsen. Picture: Kyle RNLI
The Kyle RNLI lifeboat Spirit of Fred. Olsen. Picture: Kyle RNLI

A yacht’s malfunctioning emergency gear had a UK coastguard helicopter and the Kyle lifeboat scrambling to its assistance in the Kylerhea narrows.

The incident began yesterday (Wednesday) at 3.30pm after coastguard officers picked up a distress signal in the area.

The RNLI lifeboat sped to the scene and began a systematic search of the area, making contact with all vessels in the vicinity.

In the conditions, both the lifeboat and the helicopter crews had difficulties picking up the signal, which came from a personal locator beacon (PLB), accurately so pinpointing the vessel’s location proved difficult.

A Kyle lifeboat spokesman said: “Eventually the helicopter picked up a stronger signal which appeared to be coming from a yacht in the Sandaig area, travelling south.

“The lifeboat immediately went to the yacht and spoke to the sailor, who checked his equipment and found that his PLB had malfunctioned and started transmitting.

“Due to the extremely poor VHF reception in the area he did not realise there was a search taking place.

“The lifeboat crew confirmed the sailor was not in any difficulty and didn't require any assistance, before then returning to Kyle.

“The lifeboat was washed down, refuelled and made ready for service by 5.15pm.”


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