HELENSBURGH’S volunteer lifeboat crew were called into action on Sunday afternoon following reports of an overturned kayak.
HM Coastguard requested the launch of the RNLI team after one person was believed to be in the water.
The inshore lifeboat was launched but recalled after the Coastguard received further information that the sighting was actually floating debris.
The incident followed a similar callout the week before, on the afternoon of Saturday, July 18, when the RNLI crew provided assistance to two kayakers fishing, one of whom had capsized around 200 metres offshore, opposite the Commodore Hotel in Helensburgh.
The person in the water was hanging onto the other kayak and was said to be in difficulty suffering from hypothermia.
The volunteer crew helped the person onboard the lifeboat before returning at speed to Rhu Marina to hand the person into the care of the waiting ambulance crew.
READ MORE: Police and Coastguard rescue kayaker from water near Helensburgh
The crew then returned to the scene to investigate a black waistcoat object seen floating in the water near the site of the rescue, but nothing was found.
The second kayaker was able to make it ashore.
Howard Morrison, lifeboat operations manager, said: “The lifeboat has been called out 26 times in the past few months for reports of people in difficulty on the water.
“Our volunteers respond at a moment’s notice to requests for assistance, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year and often work in difficult situations.
“The water is cold even at this time of the year and the crew are well trained to respond quickly to reports of a person or persons in danger on the water.”
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