Two jet-skiers were saved after spending three hours in the freezing waters of the Tay estuary on Sunday.
Their machine broke down and they were left clinging to it as a companion sped back to Broughty Ferry harbour to raise the alarm.
A major search and rescue operation got under way involving lifeboats, helicopters and coastguard teams.
The pair, who have not been named but are thought to come from the Dundee area, were eventually found south-east of Tentsmuir Point.
Their jet-ski had sunk and they had to be hauled aboard a lifeboat before being flown by helicopter to Ninewells Hospital. It is understood they had not suffered any physical injury but were cold and wet.
The emergency services were alerted when the men’s fellow jet-skier turned up at Broughty Ferry, reporting what had happened first to the volunteers of Coastwatch Tay.
A spokesman said: ”They had broken down. They tried to get on the other jet-ski but they kept falling off. They were in the main shipping channel out over the bar where the estuary meets the North Sea.”
“It’s very rough out there. They had no mobile phone or radio with them and one of the jet-skiers came back to Broughty Ferry harbour to raise the alarm.
“He spoke to us and then went off to the lifeboat shed to tell them directly. He was quite panicked.”
A spokesman for Aberdeen Coastguard said they had initially told the all-weather and inshore lifeboats at Broughty Ferry and coastguard teams from Arbroath, Carnoustie and St Andrews to begin the hunt for the missing men.
They were then joined by an RAF search and rescue helicopter from Boulmer in Northumberland and the Strathclyde Police helicopter.
”As we expanded the search area we tasked the Arbroath all-weather lifeboat as well and it was its crew that located them off Tentsmuir Point. Their jet-ski had sunk and they were in the water,” the spokesman said.
The lifeboat reached the pair at 4.40pm three hours after the incident started and just as the light was fading.
The RAF helicopter then picked them up from the lifeboat to ensure they got to hospital as quickly as possible. No details of their condition were available.
Montrose lifeboat and coastguard were involved in a sweep of the coast following a flare alert last night.
Two 999 calls reporting red flares in the vicinity of Montrose beach were received around 6pm.
A search of the coastline from St Cyrus to Lunan Bay did not uncover anything untoward and the operation was stood down after around three hours.