A Fife lifeboat crew was part of a rescue operation in the Firth of Forth over the weekend after dozens of partygoers became stranded on a tiny island off the coast of Edinburgh.
Kinghorn lifeboat was called out to Cramond Island three times on Saturday night and Sunday morning after around 150 people became cut off from the mainland when the tide came in.
Hundreds had walked across the causeway to the uninhabited island for a party on Saturday afternoon, but revellers staying into the early hours found themselves in trouble as the rising water covered the walkway.
Both the South Queensferry and Kinghorn lifeboats were called upon as a rescue operation was mounted, with the Fife vessel ferrying more than 30 people back to shore throughout the night.
A spokesman for Forth Coastguard said the difficulties arose when weather conditions deteriorated from a hot sunny day to a cold and rainy night.
He said, “We were then concerned for their wellbeing and the risk of exposure to the weather.
“Working with the police to ensure public safety, we assisted many of the young people to safety by escorting them across the causeway in the night, which had to be illuminated.”
The Kinghorn crew’s involvement started late on Saturday night as it responded to reports that people were in distress on the island.Party organised onlineWhile that turned out not to be the case, crew members took three people to Granton harbour before both boats were called out again just before 2am to monitor the situation as around 70 people were able to walk to shore as the tide went out again.
The Fife crew were then raised for the third time at around 6.45am when they ferried 29 people ashore, with the South Queensferry vessel transporting a similar number of people off the island.
A spokesman for the Kinghorn lifeboat station admitted it had been a long morning for the crew.
He said, “Queensferry are out taking people off the island all the time but I think the level of people involved in this instance was pretty unusual.
“We finally got back ashore at 10.30am and the police were having to round up who was left and tell them to get off the island, although there were still two or three refusing to leave.”
The party on the island had been organised through the Bebo social networking site, although partygoers were warned they would need to leave the island by 8pm on Saturday if they did not want to spend the night there because of the tide.
Photos used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr users nyer82 and nikkijw.