Five hour 'shout' to fishing boat rounds off busy fortnight for Tobermory RNLI
A five hour ‘shout’ to a fishing vessel off the islands of Coll and Tiree rounded off a busy fortnight for the RNLI volunteers at Tobermory lifeboat station on Thursday 17th May 2018.
Tobermory’s volunteer crew were paged shortly after 5.30am and were tasked by the UK Coastguard to go to the assistance of a 42 foot fishing vessel with engine failure off the coasts of the remote islands of Coll and Tiree. Tobermory RNLI’s Severn class all-weather lifeboat, Elizabeth Fairlie Ramsey, was on scene an hour after launching and managed to secure a tow line and to tow the vessel to Tobermory. The lifeboat was refuelled and made ready for service just before 11am.
Tobermory RNLI’s Coxswain David McHaffie said: ‘Fortunately the conditions were excellent and the sea was very calm and so the vessel was in no imminent danger. However, the skipper took exactly the right action in contacting the Coastguard.’
The ‘shout’ rounded off a busy fortnight for all of the volunteers at Tobermory lifeboat station. Over the weekend of 6th and 7th May 2018, the lifeboat and its crew attended the launch of the Morvern Sailing Club’s new rowing skiff at Lochaline whilst two lifejacket clinics were held at the Royal Highland Yacht Club’s spring muster at Loch Spelve and at Tobermory harbour.
Tobermory RNLI’s Community Safety Officer, Tony ‘Kiwi’ Spillane said: ‘The lifejacket clinics are completely free and we inspected just under 100 lifejackets. We will be having further lifejacket clinics on Iona on Saturday 2nd June and at our Lifeboat Day on Sunday 12th August so we would urge all water users to get their lifejackets checked for your own peace of mind.’
The lifeboat station’s fundraising and education volunteers have been equally busy with a hugely successful Family Fun Day held at the Aros Hall on Sunday 13th May as part of the RNLI’s annual MayDay campaign.
Tobermory RNLI Fundraising Chair, Nettie Wood said: ‘Today was about raising awareness of the RNLI and water safety whilst having fun for all the community. However, we are overwhelmed by the generosity of locals and visitors who helped to raise over £600 to fund our crew’s kit.’
There have also been some recent changes in station personnel with Simon ‘Tommo’ Thomasson and Tony ‘Kiwi’ Spillane becoming newly qualified Third Mechanics to support Station Mechanic Paul ‘Gunny’ Gunn and Second Mechanic Creon Carmichael.
Tobermory RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, Dr Sam Jones said: ‘Many congratulations to Tommo and Kiwi from all of us at the station. They have worked exceptionally hard and spent many hours training to get to this point where they have been passed out as fully qualified RNLI Mechanics.’Notes to editors
For further information, please contact Dr Sam Jones, Lifeboat Operations Manager via [email protected] or 07747601900 or Gemma Macdonald, Regional Media Officer for Scotland on 07826900639 or [email protected]
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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