TWO sea kayakers who had planned to paddle from the Butt of Lewis to the Faroe Islands had to abandon their trip.
They had crossed from Lewis to North Rona where it is thought they might have taken some contaminated water.
Having given up the plans to paddle to the Faroe Islands, the kayakers, Patrick Winterton and Mick Berwick, headed for the island of Sule Skerry, but changed their minds because of bad weather and decided to make for Durness.
They contacted Storn
oway Coastguard using their satellite on Monday morning and the Lochinver lifeboat was called out.
Stornoway Coastguard said that an RAF Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft, which happened to be in the vicinity as part of an exercise, guided the lifeboat crew to the kayakers' position.
Said a Coastguard spokesperson: "The men reckoned they had drunk contaminated water on North Rona and were violently sick. They were also only traveling at one knot as the tide was turning at the time. They called Stornoway Coastguard and we contacted Lochinver lifeboat. They took them to Lochinver."
The spokesperson added: "They had been in regular contact with Stornoway Coastguard since they left Lewis."
It was pointed out that the men were very experienced, but when they felt unwell they made the right decision to contact the Coastguard.
"The equipment was excellent - we can't fault them on that at all," added the spokesperson.
One of the kayakers returned to Stornoway today (Tuesday) to collect their car, none the worse for their ordeal.
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