A VISITOR to Innellan took  it upon himself to begin the New Year Loony Dook early – by swimming over the Clyde on Hogmanay, reportedly to visit his granny. Unfortunately, he didn’t tell anyone of his intentions so, after he was spotted going into the freezing water, the Helensburgh Lifeboat was launched in an attempt to find him.
HM Coastguard received a call at 6.45pm to say that a man in a wet suit was seen entering the water near Dunoon Pier. It is understood that his swim began at around 6.30pm.
The lifeboat was launched at 6.55pm and arrived at Dunoon 17 minutes later, liaising with Dunoon Coastguard officers.
It is understood that a relative of the swimmer called the Coastguard office to report that the man, his wet suit and flippers were missing from their Innellan home, and he could well be swimming to Cloch Point. The relative also reported the man to be a very experienced and able swimmer.
An RNLI spokesman said: “This new information enabled the crew to refine its search pattern. At 10.07pm, before being able to complete the search, all teams involved were asked to stand down. The ‘casualty’ had arrived close to Cloch Point on the Gourock side of the river and had phoned to say that he was OK.
“As the swimmer was wearing a wet suit, had mask, snorkel and fins, he was clearly ahead of the lifeboat’s search track. It returned to base.
“The area was cold and dark and is usually fairly busy with sea traffic. The responsible thing for the swimmer to have done would have been to inform HM Coastguard, to ensure relatives or friends were aware what he was doing and to have been accompanied by a safety vessel.”

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