Late night loch rescue

Aber may seem like a quiet backwater where nothing much happens - but we have our moments.  Backwaters can be treacherous if you don't know the waters as a group on the loch discovered last night.

It was another late walk for Rosie to the end of the shore path to enjoy the last light on the loch.  All was calm and peaceful at Net Bay until a speedboat came past obviously unaware of how shallow the loch is at this point.  The boat quickly became grounded and the more they tried to drive off the sandbank the more firmly they became stuck.  There was a shouted exchange and the three people aboard were clearly going to need help.  They could not swim, and were unwilling, understandably to just get out and wade to the shore as they were some way out and the area was unfamiliar to them.  

Net Bay looking towards Conic Hill and Balmaha

They were going to use their mobile to try to contact the police and back at the house we did the same to make sure that a message had got through.  Still concerned we gathered together torches, blankets and a length of rope to go back to Net Bay to see if there was anything to be done to help.  To speed things up we took the car along the road as far as we could.  Rosie was very bemused by this second outing in the dark.  Once on the shore path the torches were needed as the faint moonlight was unable to penetrate the trees.

Now with a mobile we were able to ring the police again who said that a rescue boat was on its way and should be there in about ten minutes.  On reaching the viewpoint we shouted across to the boat and were assured that its occupants were all OK.  We let them know that help was on its way and tried to keep their spirits up.  It was getting pretty chilly waiting by the fence and must have been even colder for them out on the open water.

At last we saw a boat with a search beam and flashing blue light but it was way over by Inchcailloch and seemed to be searching in the wrong area.  Fortunately we had a very powerful torch that we were able to signal with and attract their attention, directing the beam to the stranded speedboat.  The people on the rescue boat clearly knew how difficult these waters could be and approached cautiously and as soon as they found they were hitting shallow water, stopped.  They were still some way away from the stranded boat and the next thing we saw was a small light emerge from the rescue craft and move towards the speedboat.  The water was shallow enough to wade through and a couple of rescuers soon reached the unfortunate crew.  One of them started to push the speedboat back towards the rescue boat while another turned at right angles and waded towards us as we leant on the fence on the shore and emerged for a chat.  After confirming that we had made the call to the police, this burly rubber clad figure then turned and walked back into the water and across to the rescue boat like some strange creature of the loch.

He also told us that he wasn't from the police but the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat which I later discovered is run by volunteers in the same way as the Mountain Rescue Teams. You can find out more on their website.

We watched as the rescue boat moved off.  With the weight of its extra passengers it struggled to begin with and we could see it being helped along by one of the crew in the water pushing it.  Eventually it began to gather speed and pull away with the speedboat being towed behind on a long line. They did not have far to go as we saw them pulling in to Balmaha.  

We turned to walk home through the dark woods and this in itself felt like an adventure.  We  hadn't need the blankets or the length of rope but were certainly glad of the torches on the way home.  We wish we'd remembered to take some tablet with us - if not for those who were stranded it would at least have sustained us on the walk back.  However, we were glad of a cup of tea and a tale to tell at the end of the evening.