Leaving the NLV Pharos and Pole Star, the next vessel we came upon in Oban harbour was the RNLI lifeboat. She is the RNLB "Mora Edith MacDonald". The number 14 on her hull tells she is a 14m long Trent class and 23 that she is the 23rd of the class. She is capable of speeds of up to 25 knots. She entered service at Oban in 1997 and since then has been called out on over emergencies saving almost 100 lives.
At the next jetty we found the CalMac ferry MV Isle of Cumbrae. She was built in Troon in 1976. Currently during the summer she is on the Tarbert-Portavadie route across the mouth of Loch Fyne. During the winter she is a relief vessel and I think she might have been on the Oban - Lismore run, when we saw her back in March.
We continued past the main CalMac terminal which was empty and arrived at the head of Oban Bay under McCaig's folly. It was constructed between 1897 and 1902 by a wealthy banker John Stuart McCaig, to create work at a time of high unemployment in the area. It is built from granite from the Bonawe quarry on the shores of Loch Etive, (opposite where we had left a shuttle car).
This is a good spot to land if you want a break ashore...
...but we carried on round the Bay, leaving Pharos and Pole Star far behind, until...
...we came across this sad old fishing boat, hidden away at the north side of the north pier. Sadly, she had seen better days.
