Marine News
Sent in by John Kinsman, operations manager Coastwatch St Monans, east Fife
Honour of Lost Lifeboatmen
Arbroath and the rest of Angus hosted a show of respect for the tragic crew of lifeboat Robert Lindsay. It is 79 years since the disaster tore through the heart of the community. Six men were lost when the dawn of October 27th 1953 revealed the harrowing sight of the lifeboat Robert Lindsay on her side just outside Arbroath harbour. She was capsized by a huge wave as rescuers fired lifelines from the sea wall.
One crewman survived after grabbing a rope and pulled to safety. David Bruce, Harry Swankie Thomas Adams, William Swankie Jnr, Charles Cargill, and David Cargill were all remembered at the ceremony. The lifeboat was returning from a mission to help the Dundee sand dredger Islandmagee. The dredger hit trouble along the coast of Fife and sank with loss of all hands.
Three main events of remembrance took place in the town. 1, Arbroath lifeboat crew lay a wreath, at Eastern cemetery. 2, The Arbroath lifeboat was launched for wreath laying at sea. 3,The public church service at Arbroath West Kirk was packed as the ceremony was conducted by the minister and RNLI Chaplin, the Rev Chris Hay. The ceremony was organised by former members of Arbroath ladies lifeboat guild.
Coastwatch Busy
Coastwatch St Monans have been very busy during the storms over past weeks. The team were paged by HM Coastguard after reports from a member of the public who was walking the five coastal path between Elie and St Monans, said that the path near Lady’s Tower had suffered a serious collapse. The Coastwatch St Monans team were sent to the location to check on the situation. On arrival the team discovered a huge section of the coastal path had collapsed onto the shoreline. Members off the team put up safety tape and signs warning walkers. The path has remained closed since the fall.
In another incident the Coastwatch St Monans team were alerted by HM Coastguard that the main wall of the outdoor swimming pool at St Monans had been washed away by the storms. St Monans swimming pool is covered by the high tide and attracts swimmers everyday. The Coastwatch St Monans team put up safety tape and closed the pool to the public.
Reports were also received of collapse and flooding on the coastal path between St Monans and Pittenweem. The team attended and checked the situation and guided two walkers to safety. The St Monans Coastwatch team also spent several hours keeping watch on the water and coastal paths and harbours during the storms doing both lookout duties and patrols to make sure seafarers and walkers were safe.
Coastwatch St Monans operations manager John Kinsman said it was a very challenging time for the team and they worked in difficult conditions.
Sea search
A full scale sea search was launched after reports of a person in the water near the forth bridges. The incident happened in the early hours of the morning and coastguards launched two lifeboats from South Queensferry and Kinghorm along with coastguard rescue teams and a coastguard rescue helicopter.
The lifeboats carried searches around the bridges and surrounding areas while the rescue helicopter scoured the area were using search lights. Coastguard rescue teams searched the shorelines for several hours. The lifeboats found nothing and after a long search the coastguards called off the search and all rescue services returned to their bases.
£50K Seafront Upgrade
The sea front at Leven in Fife is in line for a £50,000 facelift following complaints about lack of maintenance.
The work will improve access to the beach, damaged walls and introduce accessible picnic areas. The improvements are separate to a multi-million pound master plan for the promenade and will be carried out over the next 18 months.
There will also be work to support the development of sand dunes in a bid to beef up coastal protection. Councillors say the promenade and beach are the jewels in Levenmouth’s crown and must be looked after. Fife councils Leven area manager David Paterson said: “We are seeing a range of improvements along the coast.” However, he warned some of these would be compromised by the recent collapse of the sea wall.
Mr Paterson acknowledged an ongoing consultation regarding the promenade master plan. He added: “In the interim these proposals are looking to address some the concerns raised in a number of these consultations around the maintenance in and around the promenade.” The Leven promenade improvements details will be announced shortly.
Finally…
John and Anne Kinsman your regular contributors wish you all a Happy Christmas and all the best for 2024. See you next year.
Featured image shows one of St Monans Coastwatch team searching coastal path for anyone missing during storms. Photo credits: J Kinsman
