Thurso lifeboat crew towed to safety... all in fun
A LOCAL lifeboat crew had to be towed to safety on Saturday – after their raft sank during a race at Thurso’s annual Lifeboat Fair Day.
The life-savers’ raft went down in the inner harbour at Scrabster after taking on too much water during the event which was reinstated this year.
The crew members, however, took the setback in good spirits and, as they were towed back to the slipway by the lifeboat’s Y-boat, a coastguard team went on to win the race.
Local RNLI spokesman David Brown said: “The local lifeboat crew claim they only let the north-coast coastguard team win because they felt it wasn’t right to take the trophy for themselves on the first year.”
Two Royal Navy university training vessels were also in the harbour on the day for students to get experience while studying for a full-time career in the Navy.
Despite the lifeboat crew’s early dooking, the day was far from a washout with around £3500 being raised for the Thurso RNLI branch.
Mr Brown said there was a big turnout which helped raise a great sum of money in “difficult financial times”.
In addition to the four-team raft race there was a dooking stool, where people could throw wet sponges hoping to douse the “target” in cold water, as well as stalls, a barbecue, a bouncy castle and an appearance from some model boat builders.
Local support also came from Dan and Dolina Mackenzie with their American truck and two officers from Northern Constabulary.
Mr Brown praised those who turned out to support the event and everyone who contributed to its organisation, including the local committee members who put in “a lot of work behind the scenes”.
“It was a fantastic day,” he said. “The weather held off for us, everybody really enjoyed themselves and the youngsters enjoyed the raft race immensely and cheered everyone on around the harbour.”