Photo Caption:
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Here you can see both the 1793 lighthouse at Little Cumbrae and its 1997 replacement to the right. Also visible is the boathouse, down close to the water. John Hill remembers, “We had several hairy launches in bad conditions. But sometimes the boat would be launched early if bad weather was expected, and it would be moored on the south side of the island. Sadly for us, we did not miss school that often. The boat itself was a wooden craft with a large diesel engine. I always felt safe in it despite its size, about 17 feet. It felt almost unsinkable as it had a lot of buoyancy, or maybe it was just Dad’s reassurance that it was unsinkable, but either way, it worked for us and we were never scared. On a good day we could reach Millport in about 20 minutes, but in bad weather it could take twice that long, as we would roll with the waves, bobbing up and down like a cork. Like most wooden boats it leaked, and the water
would come into the boat if we hit a bad wave. It was the children’s job to man the hand pump to pump her out – all part of the adventure. We must have been completely nuts, but thank God we all survived to tell this tale.”
Back to the edition of: September 2005
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