A definite ‘be there’, this Saturday, 21st June – the longest day and fun from start to finish – is Oban Lifeboat’s Open Day. Seafari will take you on a fast boat trip around Oban Bay for £5 – and then they will give all the proceeds to the lifeboat – consistently one of the busiest all-weather rescue boats in the RNLI’s Scottish fleet. The Trent class lifeboat is a regular sight on the horizon, as it heads out of Oban, streaming its wake on its rescue missions to save lives at sea.
But Saturday is your chance to get up close and personal with the flirty Mora Edith MacDonald [she once had a penchant for picking up single men] – by stepping aboard for an escorted tour, courtesy of the lifeboat’s dedicated volunteer crew.
A team from the Scottish Association For Marine Science [SAMS] will be carrying out fun science experiments outside the lifeboat station on the South Pier, to entertain young and old.
Merlin Trike Tours will be taking a purpose built Mustang trike to the event and Stormy Stan, the lifeboat man, will be on hand to greet the public.
Oban man George Berry is bringing a vintage fire engine, with an array of firefighting uniforms from different decades, for people to have a look at; and Oban Coastguard team members will be there with some of the equipment they use on rescues.
There will be a chance for children to paint pictures, while a host of prizes will reward the fortunate in a kiddies duck draw, a treasure map game and a tombola stall.
Having fun is hungry work so the lifeboat’s hardworking fundraising committee will be busy preparing burgers, as well as sumptuous cream teas, with home made scones and buns. Seafood snacks will also be on offer, with Oban chef, Alex Needham, of The Waterfront Restaurant and Judith Vajk, from the Caledonian Oyster Company, giving their time to man the stall, to raise cash for the lifeboat.
Moira Kerr, Secretary of Oban RNLI Fundraising Group, says: ‘We only have a small committee so we are indebted to the many local businesses and individuals who have helped us to put this midsummer’s day Open Day together.
‘All we need now is for the people of Oban to turn out and enjoy themselves, while helping us raise cash to save lives at sea.’
The public will have a rare chance to win a bottle of limited edition Oban Lifeboat malt whisky in a £1 a ticket
prize draw.
Only 297 bottles of tise whisky were made – from a hogshead donated by Oban Distillery in 1994 for future lifeboat fundraising work. Two of the bottles sold for £260 each at auction in March 2013; and there are now only 40 bottles of the
whisky left.
The lifeboat fundraising committee kept these bottles back, when the rest were sold, with the intention of raising more funds from them in the years to come.
The bottle to be raffled on Saturday is number 49.
The open day will run from 11am-3pm at the Lifeboat Station, at Port Ban on on Gallanach Road at the South Pier.
Seafari trip numbers are limited, so get there early to book your place.
