A coastal safety organisation has warned of the dangers of people taking jet skis on to the river after dealing with two dramas involving the powerful machines this week.
Coastwatch lookout Lynn Bell was monitoring the section of the Tay off Broughty Castle on Thursday lunchtime when a jet skier struck a wave. The impact threw him into the water and when he struggled to remount the machine Lynn realised he needed help.
She summoned the coastguard and ambulance services, who were quickly on the scene. The man was able to make his way ashore, where he was put into a Coastwatch basket stretcher, but was found to have suffered a broken leg and was taken to hospital.
Coastwatch manager Gareth Norman said the man appeared to have been experienced as he had the proper equipment and had simply been unlucky with his craft striking a wave.
“But this just shows how dangerous the river can be. Even if you are well prepared you can get into trouble,” he said. “Earlier this week two men who were not well prepared or experienced got into real trouble and if it had not been for us being present that incident could have developed into a major emergency.”
Mr Norman said that on Monday they had been watching a jet skier at Broughty harbour when the man came off the machine and was floundering in the water.
“He couldn’t swim and, although he was wearing a flotation device, it wasn’t fastened properly. The bottom section wasn’t secured so it wasn’t keeping him afloat but was riding up over his head and he was coming out the bottom of it.
“Another man was with him but he was wearing just a tracksuit and he jumped in to help. He could swim and he reached the jet ski but in trying to get on it he toppled it on to its side.
“Within a short space of time two men were struggling in the water at a toppled jet ski and in danger of being drowned. Fortunately we were there and we called the coastguard, who got the lifeboat along and the two men were rescued.”
Mr Norman said people were often lulled into a false sense of security when they ventured on to the river at Broughty Ferry and this week’s incidents proved that point.Inviting”On a nice day the Tay looks very inviting but it is open water there are tides and currents and rocks, and even people who are well prepared and experienced can be caught out, as we saw today.
“We are finding people buying jet skis and small boats on eBay and coming down here, putting them into the water and thinking they can have a few hours of fun. They even think they will be OK if they have their mobile phones but phone signals can’t be tracked in the river and the phones tend to not work very well if they have been underwater.”
The worst example of river inexperience he had encountered was last year when at 10 o’clock one night he found a woman and her son on the foreshore shouting out into the estuary. It turned out that her husband had bought a small boat and had taken it on to the river to go fishing.
“The man had said he would stay off Broughty Ferry but without realising he drifted downstream and he had to be rescued by the lifeboat off Buddon Ness several miles downstream,” Mr Norman added.
“It is recommended that people who take to the open water should have at least a Royal Yachting Association qualification which shows they have some competence but they can’t be forced to do this training. Many people don’t bother.
“Even competent people can get into difficulty, as we saw today, but increasingly we are seeing people who don’t know what they are doing coming down here and putting themselves in danger.”
Coastwatch is based at the former castle barracks. It is run entirely by volunteers who have an interest in and concern for the safety of life at sea and on the coast.