# Kessock Lifeboat Station

Kessock Lifeboat Station is located directly under the A9 Kessock Bridge, on the north shore of Beauly Firth at Craigton Point, North Kessock, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Inverness, in the Highland region of Scotland.
A lifeboat station was established at North Kessock in 1993 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The station currently operates a B-class (Atlantic 85) Inshore lifeboat, Robert and Isobel Mowat (B-873), on station since 2014.

## History

In 1822, the Caledonian Canal was constructed by Thomas Telford. This 60-mile (97 km) route up the Great Glen Fault between Oban and Inverness allowed vessels of a modest size to cut off the dangerous route around north-west Scotland through the Pentland Firth and around Cape Wrath, instead emerging out onto the Beauly and Moray Firth to the North Sea.
For many years, the area had been served by lifeboats stationed at Lossiemouth, Nairn and Cromarty, but these had been successively closed as demand for the service declined, the last one closing in 1968. In 1992, with increasing leisure traffic on the canal, and in the local area, with the nearest (All-weather) lifeboat some 20 miles (32 km) away at Invergordon, the RNLI Management Committee decided to create a new Inshore lifeboat station at North Kessock, ideally situated between the Beauly and Moray Firths, just to the east of the Caledonian Canal sea lock at Clachnaharry.
On 5 June 1993, the RNLI placed the D-class (EA16) relief lifeboat (D-396) at North Kessock, for a one-year evaluation period. The Kessock Ferry had ceased operating in 1982, following construction of the Kessock Bridge, and the lifeboat was stored on the old slipway, with the former ticket office on Main Street being used for crew kit. Initially, the lifeboat was on station for the summer season.
The following year, North Kessock Lifeboat Station was established as a permanent all-year-round station, and a new D-class (EA16) lifeboat arrived on 10 May 1994. Funded by the late Ronald W. J. Wood, the boat was named Margaret and Fiona Wood (D-459) at a ceremony on 17 September 1994.
After 8 years of operations, a purpose built boathouse was constructed a little further to the east at Craigton Point, designed to accommodate a much larger twin-engined Atlantic-class lifeboat and its launch tractor. Also providing much improved crew facilities, it was completed in September 2001, at a cost of £481,500. The station would then receive the relief lifeboat B-class (Atlantic 75) Lucy Beryl (B-709) for a period of training, arriving on station on 18 October 2001. Following a decision from 1999, the station name was changed to Kessock Lifeboat Station.
At a ceremony on Friday 7 June 2002, Kessock boathouse was officially opened, and the new B-class (Atlantic 75) lifeboat was named Moray Dolphin (B-771). The lifeboat was funded by an anonymous donor from Inverness.
On 11 January 2014, Moray Dolphin (B-771) was withdrawn to the relief fleet, and Kessock received the new larger B-class (Atlantic 85) lifeboat. Funded from a bequest of £200,000 from the late Dr Isobel Stewart Fenton, the lifeboat was named Robert & Isobel Mowat (B-873) in memory of her father and mother.
The 25th anniversary of the station was celebrated in 2018. In that period, the lifeboat had been launched 700 times, rescued 320 people, and saved 36 lives.
Kessock lifeboat crew were called out 3 times on one day in 2021. At 05:42, the lifeboat was called to assist in a multi-agency search. Then at 14:05, the lifeboat was launched to the aid of a yacht with a fouled propeller, and shortly afterwards to another yacht, which was aground near Longman Beacon.

## Kessock lifeboats
### Inshore lifeboats

| Op.No. | Name | In service | Class |
| D-396 | Unnamed | 1993−1994 | D-class (EA16) |
| D-459 | Margaret and Fiona Wood | 1994−2001 | D-class (EA16) |
| B-709 | Lucy Beryl | 2001−2002 | B-class (Atlantic 75) |
| B-771 | The Moray Dolphin | 2002−2014 | B-class (Atlantic 75) |
| B-873 | Robert and Isobel Mowat | 2014− | B-class (Atlantic 85) |

### Launch and recovery tractors

| Op. No. | Reg. No. | Type | In service |
| TW34 | M71 RUX | Talus MB-764 County | 2002–2015 |
| TW03 | RLJ 367R | Talus MB-764 County | 2015–2016 |
| TW34 | M71 RUX | Talus MB-764 County | 2016– |
* 1 2 Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat or vehicle carried on the hull.