Scottish anchorages

You probably won't need it if you are reasonably careful, but if someone does go overboard, or you have a fire, or you are sinking, help is fairly close at hand in this area. There are four all weather lifeboats for a start - Islay, Oban, Tobermory and Mallaig. I personally have never needed one, at least not yet. If you do not already subscribe to the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution founded in 1824) it is time you did.

The Story of the Oban Lifeboat (2009 Pen Press) is well worth a read.

No doubt you will be festooned with safety gear, the crucial bit being a VHF radio, maybe two - one fixed on the boat and one hand held. A mobile phone is handy but absolutely should not be relied on, it runs out of battery and the coverage is not complete - but if push comes to shove a 999 call might get you help. At the moment in 2011 there is turmoil in the Coastguard Service because it is proposed to close down Clyde and rely on Belfast and Stornoway. This may not be as bad as it sounds, at least in the area described here where even now one can communicate with Belfast in the south and Stornoway in the north. The main issue is whether they will have the local knowledge that Clyde does, but then does Clyde know as much as Oban Coastguard which was closed down a few years ago without any very obvious problem?

If all else fails, and you have one, then activate your EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) or PLB (Personal Locator Beacon).

And the absolutely final resort is to get into your liferaft. Anyone who has done an RYA (Royal Yachting Association) survival course will appreciate just why this is the last resort. Difficult to get into from the sea, almost impossible to right if inverted, bloody cold and makes you sea sick. So stay on your boat until it is so low in the water that the liferaft is at your level, or you are on fire.

For medical advice click here.