Kessock Lifeboat Station
Kessock Life Boat Station is one of Scotland's youngest stations, operating for just over 20 years of saving lives at sea.
On June 5th, 1993 a D class inshore lifeboat (ILB) station was established at North Kessock for one Summer season’s evaluation. Only able to operate during daylight, the volunteer crew covered a patch ranging from the mouth of the Beauly river as far East as Culben sands and Findhorn.The boat was stored at the old slipway while the ticket office for the then Kessock ferry doubled up as the crew changing room. During the winter the lifeboat was put into hibernation until the next season.
1994 An all-year round lifeboat station was permanently established to cover the Moray and Beauly Firths.
1995 A new D class lifeboat, Margaret and Fiona Wood, was placed on service.
2001 A Letter of Appreciation was sent to the crew of the ILB for the prompt action that saved the life of one person from the Moray Firth on the night of 6 December 2000.
Two lives were saved when the aircraft Denny Fox Mk III crashed into the Beauly Firth. After landing the survivors, the ILB was able to recover the aircraft and tow it to shore. It was subsequently restored to flying condition.
A new boathouse was completed in September to accommodate a new B class lifeboat. An Atlantic 75 lifeboat, Lucy Beryl, was placed on service as the temporary station lifeboat.
The station changed its name to Kessock lifeboat station.
2002 The new lifeboat station at Craigton Point was officially opened and a naming ceremony was held for the new Atlantic 75 lifeboat, Moray Dolphin, on Friday 7 June. The Station is classed as a Discover Station, as it was built before visitors were considered.
A Letter of Appreciation was sent to the station for evacuating 209 hotel guests and one tortoise during flash flooding in Inverness on 8 September.
Severe flooding occurred in Elgin and the lifeboat crew assisted in the evacuation of several hundred residents. The Operations Director sent a Letter of Appreciation to the station
The RNLI Lifeboats around the coast of the UK are crewed by volunteers. Ordinary men and women who do extraordinary things to help save lives at sea. Today, two of the original volunteer crew members are still involved with Kessock lifeboat. Alan McDiarmid, current chairman of Kessock lifeboat and Donnie MacRae, helmsman at Kessock Lifeboat was 25 years old when he first volunteered. We currently have around 14 volunteer crew with the station that range from Engineers, Builders, Fire Crew, Nurses, Students, Offshore workers etc and are always looking for new volunteers. We have training every Monday night 6-9pm so if you are interested please drop in.
In January this year Kessock Lifeboat Station was declared an Atlantic 85 lifeboat station following the arrival of their new RNLI lifeboat Robert and Isobel Mowat. The new boat allows the station to put four crew instead of three out to sea and it is faster and stronger. We have been training intensively on the use of the Atlantic 85 class craft and have already responded to several emergencies.
Over 40,000 people around the UK and Ireland volunteer themselves to help others when the call comes but it is only possible with the support of the public who literally keep us afloat by donating their money to the RNLI. We would like to thank everyone for supporting us and helping keep the Kessock Lift Boat Station in operation.
Julie Howarth, May 2014
