West of Scotland - Skye

After a delicious breakfast, on our 6^th day of visits in West Scotland, we took the short 10 minute drive from our accommodation to the small port of Mallaig.

Mallaig Lifeboat Station

Arriving at the lifeboat station we took our evidence photo and made a few notes before we were welcomed by Juliet, the shop manager. We stood chatting for a while before being joined by the station Treasurer, Audrey. We were soon then introduced to Coxwain David, new Mechanic Kenny, Lifeboat Press Officer Jess and crew member Kieran. All three were relatively new to the roles indeed Kenny has only been in post for 2 weeks but with a very strong maritime engineering background, certainly knew his way around the engine room of a boat.

The lifeboat station at Mallaig is within the harbour buildings at the entrance to the ferry port. It was established in 1947 following the withdrawal of the lifeboat from Tobermory the year before. The lifeboat was moored in Mallaig harbour with some accommodation for crew being made available among the fishing sheds. The current station building was acquired in 1998 and converted to accommodate the crew facilities and shop.

We all headed over to the lifeboat moored on a pontoon close to the station. This pontoon was installed in 2001 at the south pier. The Severn class was named Henry Alston Hewat (17-26) on station in 2001. A significant proportion of the cost of this Severn Class was from the bequest of the late Catherine Hewat, and at a ceremony on the 16 June 2001, the boat was named after her father, Henry Alston Hewat. Mallaig Lifeboat covers a vast area of open water and Lochs with many of the service calls being to medical evacuations of the numerous small Isles including Eigg and Rum.

David and Kenny gave us a very interesting tour of the boat and we had a good discussion about the Severn Class, the engine room and the wheelhouse. Before we left the boat, Jess and Kieran took some photos of us with David and Kenny on the bow of the Severn. Back at the station we said our farewells and Juliet very generously gave us a donation.

It was then onto a ferry for a short sail across to Armadale on Skye. Before heading to our next visit we took a short detour to a fabulous little cake shack called Amy’s Place. In a remote location with spectacular mountain backdrop, owners Mark and Alison set up the business in memory of their daughter Amy who sadly passed away in December  2018 at the young age of 23. She had faced daily battles with Lupus and Epilepsy since the age of 14. The cake shop is a thriving business with all the cakes being handmade by Alison. That day she had made an RNLI cake with all proceeds going to the charity and we were lucky to get a slice as it was nearly all gone. Mark very generously gave us a donation and we enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the beautifully decorated café.

Together with Mark and Alison at Amy's Place Cakes

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Portree Lifeboat Station

Heading north into the Isle of Skye we arrived at the little harbour town of Portree which was very busy with holiday makers. We slowly made our way down to the Lifeboat Station at the end of the pier and parked up. At the station we took our evidence photo of the station sign and also a photo of their Trent Class lifeboat 14-16, Stanley Watson Barker that was moored in the harbour. The lifeboat has been in service since 1996.

We knocked on the door and were welcomed by Mechanic John and retired crew member Donald. It was clear that there was some good banter and camaraderie in the crew here and we had a good laugh and discussion with both.

The station was established in 1991 following an increase in local traffic and the need for a lifeboat station on the Isle of Skye. In 1994 the current station building was acquired from a fish processing company and converted to crew facilities.

Bidding farewell we headed back to the car and made our way to the next station visit at the other end of Skye and over the famous Skye Bridge to the small town of Kyle of Lochalsh.

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Kyle of Lochalsh Lifeboat Station

After taking our evidence photo we were met by Andrew (Woody) who welcomed us into the station and made us a lovely cup of tea. We were soon joined by Lifeboat Operations Manager, Alex, who is also the busy Harbour Master, Launch Authority Iain who had just recently retired as a master on Caledonian MacBrayne ferries and Mechanic Ewan.

Again it was clear that there was a very good team spirit and friendship amongst the crew and we chatted for a good while with the guys. Kyle of Lochalsh is an impressive station building built in 2000. The lifeboat station was established in 1995 and covers a large area of sea Lochs including Loch Alsh from which the town is named.

They have an Atlantic 85 Lifeboat which they kindly allowed us to board to have some photos taken. Woody was a professional photographer and captured some excellent photographs for us. The B-Class, Spirit of Fred. Olsen (B-856), on station since 2011, was funded by guests onboard Fred. Olsen's four ships Balmoral, Black Watch, Braemar and Boudicca. The company has been supporting the RNLI for over 50 years.

Woody also offered to take some photos of us at the front of the station with the station sign and we have used that as our evidence photo. With that we asked if he would be available for the rest of our visits to become our official photographer – he politely declined. We said our farewells and thanked the guys for their warm welcome and hospitality before heading on another long drive north to Ullapool.