Boat gets into trouble off treacherous coastline

Tue, 07 Jun 2011

There's a warning from lifeboats crews after a boat with no safety gear or radio onboard got into trouble on a treacherous part of the west coast.

Rescuers were called out on Friday night after a small open boat ran out of fuel near off Glen Maye.

The only form of contact the two people onboard had was a mobile phone which was almost useless, given that there's little or no signal in the area.

By the time the lifeboat reached them at 11.30pm, they'd drifted around two miles from their original position and were in danger of striking the rocks.

Crews say it's imperative that all boats have enough fuel for their journey and are equipped with life jackets and a VHF radio, as an absolute minimum.

They say this incident could easily have ended in tragedy.