Paddleboarders urged to take care amid increase in callouts
Paddleboarding is one of the fastest-growing water sports and saw a major increase in popularity during the COVID-19 lockdown.
However, as nice weather continues across Scotland, the RNLI said it has received an increase in calls from paddleboarders in distress.
The charity said advice is easy to find on their life-guarded beaches. STV News
It comes after the death of Alexander McNab, who died while paddleboarding Lochore on June 28.
The 15-year-old's family described him as an adventurous, bold, hard-working and ambitious boy.
Calum McNicol from Paddle Scotland is urging people to be safe and shared information on things paddleboarders should consider before heading out.
He told STV News it's crucial for people to spend a 'little bit of time on the beach'.
'Stop, look and listen. I make no apologies for reinventing the Green Coast code, but when you turn up at the place that you want to launch to spending a few minutes just looking down the boat, you're assessing the situation before you go on,' he said.
Mr McNicol added that people should always have the correct equipment, including a wetsuit, personal flotation device, and phone, before hitting the water.
'There's there's two important takeaways from this. One is about wind direction and establishing what's happening with the wind,' he added.
'And the second one is having a means of communication. I've got my mobile phone in a waterproof pouch. It costs a couple of quid or ten a penny, but is an integral part of safety kit.'
He said that people should take note of the winds before heading out on their boards, and never take to the water when there's an offshore wind.
'If you feel the wind on your face, that's what we call an onshore wind. And it's cool in the gang. We can go with that,' he added.
'But if we feel the wind on our back or the back of our heads, that means the wind's blowing offshore. And the golden rule for the paddleboarding is we just don't take to the water when it's an offshore wind.'
Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
19 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Vladimir Weiss targets Celtic revenge mission as ex Rangers star defends dad over touchline meltdown
The veteran has come to his dad's defence after his meltdown on the touchline Former Rangers winger Vladimir Weiss is desperate to tee up a Celtic revenge mission by overturning Kairat Almaty's lead in the second leg. And the veteran has come to his dad's defence after his meltdown on the touchline during the 1-0 defeat in Kazakhstan. Slovan Bratislava boss Weiss Sr was sent off in their first leg defeat after a late penalty was awarded against his side. Despite playing the final 25 minutes with 10 men after Rahim Ibrahim was sent off, Slovan looked set to claim a valuable 0-0 draw in Kazakhstan until the last minute of the game, where Dastan Satpaev stepped up to bag the winner from 12 yards after Kairat were awarded a penalty kick. The veteran boss confronted the ref and the fourth official and stormed onto the pitch before being dragged away against the club he used to manage 10 years ago. His son played on loan for Rangers and helped them to a Scottish title in 2011 and is still going strong by captaining Slovan at the age of 35. And he's desperate to get another crack at playing Celtic in the Champions League playoff as he explained his dad's antics. He said: "He's a very emotional man and this match meant even more to him because he used to manage Kairat Almaty. Just as I would do anything for this team, so would he. "He regrets what happened now, but there's nothing he can do about it now. "Unfortunately, we will miss him in the home leg, but with the quality on our side and with our excellent fans, we will beat them at a sold-out stadium and win through to play against Celtic." Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also on WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
The Herald Scotland
40 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Czech ex-Rangers star admits 'surprise' at Plzen gulf
Rangers cruised to a 3-0 first leg win against the Czech Republic side and seem set to face either Club Brugge or RB Salzburg in the playoffs, with the Belgians winning 1-0 in the first leg in Austria. And 41-times capped Sionko - who spent a single year at Ibrox under flop manager Paul Le Guen - was impressed with his former club. He said: "I have to say there was a huge difference in quality between Rangers and Viktoria Plzen. "It means they now have no chance of qualifying in the second leg. "I expected a much better performance from Plzen, but Rangers were very good. "Scottish football remains a competition between two teams and Rangers are still a little behind Celtic. Read more: "But they are finding stability and they have enormous strength, tradition and possibilities and amazing fans at a full Ibrox. "Personally, I was surprised at the level of difference between the two teams. "Rangers have many international players in their team now. They have a lot of interesting and skilled foreigners who they can afford to pay. "And they definitely don't play the Scottish type of football. "We actually tried to play like that under Paul Le Guen, but we could only play that way in Europe. "When we came to play Motherwell or Aberdeen, things got messy again. I had to adapt a lot with my smaller stature and I have to say that it didn't work for me."
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Czech ex-Rangers star admits 'surprise' at Plzen gulf
And he's written off any hope of a comeback from Viktoria Plzen next week. Rangers cruised to a 3-0 first leg win against the Czech Republic side and seem set to face either Club Brugge or RB Salzburg in the playoffs, with the Belgians winning 1-0 in the first leg in Austria. And 41-times capped Sionko - who spent a single year at Ibrox under flop manager Paul Le Guen - was impressed with his former club. He said: "I have to say there was a huge difference in quality between Rangers and Viktoria Plzen. "It means they now have no chance of qualifying in the second leg. "I expected a much better performance from Plzen, but Rangers were very good. "Scottish football remains a competition between two teams and Rangers are still a little behind Celtic. Read more: "But they are finding stability and they have enormous strength, tradition and possibilities and amazing fans at a full Ibrox. "Personally, I was surprised at the level of difference between the two teams. "Rangers have many international players in their team now. They have a lot of interesting and skilled foreigners who they can afford to pay. "And they definitely don't play the Scottish type of football. "We actually tried to play like that under Paul Le Guen, but we could only play that way in Europe. "When we came to play Motherwell or Aberdeen, things got messy again. I had to adapt a lot with my smaller stature and I have to say that it didn't work for me."
