RNLI to the rescue

Visiting Cramond today to enjoy a River Almond walk with friends we suddenly heard a cry for help from the estuary where the yachts are moored. Someone was in deep trouble. A lone boatsman had fallen overboard and could not manage to climb back on to his moored vessel. A walker in the know immediately put a call through to RNLI. However, before the rescue boat hove into view, a local canoeist managed to reach the waterlogged man who fortunately had stayed afloat thanks to his life-jacket. The canoeist transferred to an adjacent rubber dinghy, roped it to his canoe, and began navigating around the boats, with the rescued man in tow hanging on for dear life.
In the first picture he's explaining apologetically that this has never happened to him before in a long boating career. However, the RNLI crew in all their colourful gear did not bat an eyelid and were perhaps rather glad they did not have a full blown rescue on their hands thanks to a passing canoeist and a life-jacket! However it is gratifying to know that there is not only a great rescue service at hand but good people in the vicinity who will turn up trumps when a boating mishap strikes.
Extra 1: The actual rescue: 2. The official rescue crew arrives.