REMINDERS about being prepared have been issued after more people were rescued at sea.
Rescue teams from Stranraer, Portpatrick and Drummore were called into action to to assist two small inflatable dinghies on Saturday evening.
The crews were alerted at 6.43 pm about two small inflatable dinghies, each with two persons on board, which were drifting south of the Mull of Galloway due to a loss of power.
Portpatrick RNLI launched and headed towards the Mull of Galloway where they received assistance in their search from local coastguard teams who were able to locate and guide the lifeboat to the stricken vessels.
All four people and their boats were recovered and transferred to Portpatrick lifeboat before being taken back to shore and handed over to the coastguard team.
Commenting on the rescue, Andy Stakes, Portpatrick RNLI volunteer coxswain, said: “Today’s incident was remarkably similar to events back in June when we saved two people and a dog at the Mull of Galloway. We would like to remind everyone that the Mull of Galloway is a particularly challenging area for wind and tidal swells. The conditions yesterday were calm with a light breeze but when we arrived at the scene the vessels had already drifted around 2.5 miles away from the shore. Luckily, the persons on board were carrying a mobile phone and were able to contact the coastguard before they drifted to far away from land and out of the range of telephone signal.”
Ian Marshall, lifeboat operations manager at Portpatrick, added: “We are extremely proud of our team here at Portpatrick. This was the third call out this week and another four lives saved.
“We encourage everyone thinking of taking part in any water sports to check the wind and tides before heading out, wear a lifejacket or buoyancy aid, and most importantly, carry a means of calling for help that is always easily accessible.”
