Canoe reunited with owner after paddle on Loch Ness goes wrong
A CANOE abandoned on Loch Ness has been reunited with its owner weeks after a paddle on the water went wrong.
The RNLI lifeboat on Loch Ness was called out to reports of three people in the water on April 21.
When crew arrived at the scene, one of the casualties was being winched into the Coastguard rescue helicopter. The other two, plus their dog, had managed to swim to shore before police took them to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
Lifeboat crew were able to recover their canoe.
All three men were well, despite spending up to 40 minutes in the bitterly cold loch.
And on Saturday, Alex Owen and his dog Ernie returned to Loch Ness, to visit the lifeboat station and be reunited with the canoe.
A RNLI spokesman said: "Alex and his friends were paddling the Caledonian Canal, and had been heading towards their next campsite at Dores, after stopping for lunch at Urquhart Castle.
"While crossing the loch, they realised the wind was gradually picking up, leading to increasingly larger waves.
"Slowly at first, the waves started filling Alex’s canoe with water, and despite bailing water frantically, the canoe became increasingly unstable, which led to more and more water being taken onboard. The realisation soon hit that the canoe was a lost cause, and the only way to safety was to swim the 1km to the nearest shore.
"On the shore, a passing campervan had stopped to take in the views of Loch Ness. Its driver soon spotted the swimmers, and raised the alarm, triggering the multi-agency search operation.
"The Loch Ness RNLI team were delighted to learn that everyone involved was safe and well. Alex and friends are now planning to raise funds for the RNLI."
