Scrabster's Lifeboat Fayre

Living next to the sea, many of the local communities have a lifeboat crew, which is a mix of full time and volunteer support.  The Wick harbourfest also featured the lifeboat crew - they even did some demonstration rescues while I was boat judging.

The Thurso lifeboat is based in Scrabster Harbour.  It was established in 1860.  The station covers the south side of the Pentland Firth and the north coast of Scotland to Cape Wrath and been responsible for saving in excess of 600 lives during 375+ launches. 

The Fayre started with the cadets, pulling the lifeboat across Scrabster Harbour. I had heard they were going to do this, and there were a couple of things that surprised me.  First, I thought cadets were like 18 years old, and they turned out to be kids.  

Sea Cadets

Then I thought pull it across the harbour - I don't know, I had kind of tug of war thing in my head, but it turned out to be row boat pulling.  Six kids (4 boys and 2 girls) in a row boat, pulling it across the harbour.  

Getting it started

Getting it started was hard and then they had to stop and reorient over 4 times, which means the momentum thing was not always working in their favour.

It's really moving now

While all of this is going on, they are getting 'encouragement' from the guys on the lifeboat, the guys in the inflatable and a line of people along the harbour.

They can see the end

I have to say the the girls were a lot more efficient with their rowing.  No whipping the oars high, just steady and efficient. It was pretty awesome.


The lifeboat pulled across the harbour, it was time for the pipers to open the rest of the fayre and start the games.