PICTURES: 200 years of saving lives at sea marked at RNLI Kessock
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The dedication and commitment of volunteer lifeboat crews over the past 200 years have been celebrated in a ceremony at RNLI Kessock.
As the RNLI marked its bicentenary with events across the UK, the Kessock lifeboat and its base beneath the Kessock Bridge was lit up.
The crew, volunteers, fundraisers were joined for the celebrations by other supporters and members of the community while a crew from RNLI Invergordon watched on from its lifeboat.
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The Kessock crew includes Jane Hier who became the first female helm at the lifeboat station in 2022 and is one of only four female Atlantic 85 helms in Scotland.
The 34-year-old dentist, who is originally from Northern Ireland, joined the crew in 2017 after watching an episode of Saving Lives at Sea and then went along to an open day at Kessock where she found a welcoming environment.
She explained what motivated her.
"It is about learning new things and a sense of helping people," she reflected.
"The other thing is I have made all these wonderful new friends at the station.
"It sounds so cliched to say we are a big family but we really are – not just this station but across in Ireland, too.
"It really is a wonderful organisation to be a part of."
Jane said that she does not feel scared when on a shout as the volunteer crew members are extremely well trained and the boat is well designed with lifesaving and technological equipment on board.
But she picks up on a sense of what people waiting to be rescued might be feeling.
She recalled one shout after a paddle boarder had been blown out to sea off Rosemarkie.
"I could see how genuinely terrified she was and how I felt an empathy for her," she reflected.
Joanie Whiteford, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ross and Cromarty, spoke about the charity which has saved more than 146,000 lives – two lives every day on average – since being founded on March 4 1824 and paid tribute to the volunteer crews and its supporters.
She said Scotland had 46 lifeboats, many of them in the north including some of the oldest in the country as well as some of the newest.
She cited lifeboat stations such as Wick, established in 1848, while noting Leverburgh on the Isle of Harris was established in 2012 and Loch Ness in 2008.
"Today, we commemorate all those who served before us and celebrate those who followed to continue the charity's lifesaving work," she said.
Mrs Whiteford added: "While innovations and technology over 200 years have inevitably changed and how the charity saves lives, some things have remained the same.
"The voluntary ethos at the heart of the RNLI is what makes the charity so special.
"The volunteers have given their time and commitment over the past two centuries as they all continue to do today."
Guests included Angus Watson, of Dingwall, who was made an MBE two years ago for his service to the RNLI, from operational duties to work which saved the charity millions of pounds.
Mr Watson, a marine engineer, started as a volunteer crewman with both Invergordon and North Kessock stations but was lucky enough to become a staff member in 1996 which took him to Ireland as a lifeboat surveyor.
He was later appointed as Inland Waters project manager for the UK and Ireland.
After retiring three years ago as the RNLI's director of engineering and supply at its Poole headquarters, he moved back to the Highlands.
Mr Watson referred to the vision of Sir William Hillary, the RNLI's founder, who realised the need for a lifesaving service at sea.
"This still stands true today, 200 years on," reflected Mr Watson who said it was thanks to the voluntary ethos that the service continued.
