In the harbour today ...

The southern pier in Oban was busy today, boats tied up 3 deep. Colourful even in the pouring rain too.

Of these three boats, I only know about one of them, the red 30foot crabber, the Jean Frances, on the right. In December 2010 the Oban Lifeboat - the Mora Edith MacDonald - was launched to assist the crabber, almost aground off St Columba's Cathedral on the Corran Esplanade. She had a fouled propeller. The Lifeboat was on the scene within minutes, sending out her own dinghy with two lifeboat crew who succeeded in clearing the rope and net from the propeller. The channel is very narrow just there and there could easily have been a nasty encounter with rocks, not least as the boat was being run single handedly by the skipper.

The Jean Frances was escorted to the North Pier slip where members of the Coastguard shore team helped the skipper to secure the boat.

Just to show how efficient the Lifeboat service is, the log shows that the Mora Edith MacDonald returned to her berth at 19.47 and was refuelled and ready for action again by 20.03. What a wonderful service they provide.

Kerrera and the hills of Mull in the background across the harbour.