It’s all action stations for lifeboat open day in Oban

RNLI mascot Stormy Stan and Oban High School Pipers draw in the crowds for the lifeboat open day on Saturday Pictures by Stephen Lawson

Helensburgh RNLI Team vist QHM Faslane

Oban 9 oor wee boat, Maid of the Firth, leaving Oban Harbour for Seal Island.

By Bill Heaney

It was Yellow Welly Day in Oban on Saturday when Oban’s RNLI crew and mascot Stormy Stan welcomed a steady stream of visitors to the West Highland town’s busy South Pier.

Oban’s Trent class lifeboat the Mora Edith MacDonald was the centre-piece of the celebration for a final time before a new Shannon class lifeboat comes on station towards the end of the year.

There was a lifeboat tour for Nicola Hamilton, holding Finlay Hamilton, aged nine months, Allan Wright with Struan Wright, aged two, and Murray Hamilton with Ayla Hamilton, also aged two.The volunteer crew and fundraising team were joined by colleagues from the Oban Coastguard Rescue Team, Oban Mountain Rescue Team and Green Watch from Oban fire station.

Oban RNLI volunteers were joined by colleagues from the Oban Coastguard Rescue Team, Oban Mountain Rescue Team and Green Watch from Oban fire station. Visitors met RNLI water safety experts and browsed stalls set up by local artists and producers before being given a guided tour of the lifeboat.

Stormy Stan and crew member Graham Beuschier met Monty the cat on the
Station Pier. Oban lifeboat’s s full-time coxswain Ally Cerexhe thanked everyone involved for their support.

Stormy Stan showed off with an inflatable model of a Shannon class lifeboat.

He said: “This was a great way for the crew to say thank you to our community, who continued to give generously throughout the day – including many who helped fill Stormy Stan’s bucket when he went on walkabout along the Railway Pier.

“We are really grateful for the support of our other emergency services colleagues and
to all the people from the Oban area and visitors who came to see us.”