Lifeboat rescue from Cramond Island - your views online

A lifeboat team has issued important advice to the public after nearly 30 people had to be rescued from Cramond Island at the weekend

Louise Wilson

The other side of the coin is that some people who are rescued may not want to be! My son and a group of friends decided to spend some time on the island. The tide changed and a lifeboat duly arrived. The group politely said thank you but they wanted to stay on the island, only to be told they had to be 'rescued' or the police would be called! They were all over 20 and well able to make decisions for themselves and it was lovely summer weather. A definite overreaction

Steve Aitchison

As a former HM Coastguard, people cannot be left on the island and they cannot be charged for a rescue. Both increase the risk of a situation deteriorating. If they were left on the island, what if the weather worsened and someone in the group developed hypothermia? Or if people couldn't afford the cost of a rescue, they would avoid calling and put themselves in more danger. The real travesty is that the RNLI receive no government funding, they rely solely on donations. So next time you're passing a station, put whatever you can afford into the donations box.

Dougie Ritchie

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Absolute nonsense it's well sign posted ... leave the halfwits till next low tide.

Kevin van der Westhuizen

Put up a notice that if you are stranded on the island you will be rescued and dropped off in Fife. That would put a stop to it immediately.

Lizz Rennie

Tide timetables are available, why do people not read them first?

Keith Stewardson

Mandatory £20pp charge to get off it, made payable to RNLI.

Andrew Beskow

They don't realise that the lifeboat crews have families and give up their time to help those in need. I bet the people they rescue time and time again don't give a donation to the RNLI or even realise how much fuel they use when they need it for real life rescues.

Morgan Bisset

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It’s so clearly sign posted you would obviously check before crossing. What a waste of time for the RNLI! Imagine there was a real emergency or distress call and they are busy ferrying idiots back to the shore! If it happens once or twice fair enough, but to be happening this much is just stupidity!

Marlene Wentworth

Give yourselves at least half an hour to walk back to land before the tide turns. If you/they don’t understand the timetable, they could ask someone or phone the coastguard for safe times to cross. Wait until the better weather arrives, it will occur most weekends, especially during the holidays.

Maureen Cummings

Same with the Holy Island, so many cars leaving it until the last minute and chancing their luck.

Alasdair MacLean

I am of the leave them and teach them a lesson cam, as long as they were not in imminent danger. A bit of discomfort would certainly make them think twice and word would soon spread.

Dougie Kohler

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Put up a notice saying if you get stuck on the island due to tide change you will be charged.

Valerie Marshall

Sound a horn when the tides change.

Dave Llewellyn

I regularly go over to the island overnight. I have also swam to it at 1am by the light of the moon. Some say people they would be stuck if they a had a medical emergency. They are obviously not the same people who have waited for nine hours for an ambulance in Pilton only to be told to take a taxi to hospital.

Sue Geddes

It is time they were charged for being picked up. There is no need for it, the tide tables are clearly marked. Unless there is an accident, they should either be left there or charged for the cost of the rescue.

Fraser Shepherd

I don't understand the logic of people HAVING to be rescued. If I decide to climb a mountain or swim in the ocean nobody comes to rescue me unless I indicate I'm in trouble. Why is it different for people who want to spend an afternoon on an isolated island?

Debbie Dickson Millar

I can see us all being stopped from going over.

Shonagh Potter

Read the tide timetables – it’s not Disney World!

Jeanie Corstorphine

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OK, name and shame them then, embarrassment might stop other fools from doing it. There is no excuse.

Sophie Pollock

You wouldn't charge someone for an ambulance to attend an accident when it was their fault or a fire when they had made a mistake and left something burning.

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