Working Together

It's a yachtsman's nightmare: a one-and-a-half ton keel boat has slipped off her trailer and lies, half on and half off it, just above the high-tide mark.

The accident happened last night at Kilchoan slipway as the yacht was being brought ashore for the winter, damaging the trailer. Following a plea for help, Dochie Cameron and his son Justin turned out at 8.30 on a Sunday morning to solve an intricate engineering problem: how to get the boat back into the sea.

With no crane available, the solution lay in gently sliding the yacht, still wedged on her crippled trailer, back into the water and refloating her. By this time Titch and Hughie MacLachlan, and Gordon MacKenzie had joined the team. With their help, the boat was safely floated off.

That was as much as the worried owner could have hoped for, but it was not enough for this magnificent team. Following a quick, temporary repair to the trailer....

....and a great deal of hauling, the boat was manoeuvred back onto its trailer, pulled up the slipway.....

....and safely towed away.

The owner was left standing by his boat, shaking his head. "I can't believe it," he said, "The way they all turned out and mucked in. I've lived in the village a fair bit, but it wasn't until today that I realised how wonderfully people in this small community work together when someone's in need. I can't thank them enough for their help."

Many thanks to Diary photographer Lynda MacKenzie for taking the pictures.