‘We’re the first people they contact’

Speaking in Scots Gaelic, a Mallaig RNLI crew member reminds us that not all who need saving are in the water. Welcome to Na Garbh Chriochan (The Rough Bounds).

The train line in these parts – on Scotland’s west coast – is known as the Harry Potter line, and is considered one of the most scenic in the world. It’s where film-makers shot the Hogwarts Express scenes. The area – opposite the Isle of Skye – is a remote wilderness with a daunting landscape. Hence the name it goes by: The Rough Bounds.

Many places in this part of the world are only accessible by boat. In Scottish Gaelic, RNLI Mallaig Coxswain Michael Ian Currie recounts a call out to a lighthouse on the island of Ornsay. On this particular evening, the danger wasn’t the conditions – it was diabetes.