A Tobermory schoolboy has signed up to volunteer with his local RNLI lifeboat crew.
Bobby MacLeod Gunn, who attends Tobermory High School, is following in a family tradition by giving up his time to save lives at sea.
The 18-year-old is the great-great-grandson of Bobby MacLeod, the acclaimed accordionist, and his dad is the station’s mechanic.
A spokeswoman for the RNLI in Tobermory said: “Bobby joined the crew earlier this year and is following in a long family tradition at Tobermory RNLI lifeboat station.
“Bobby’s great-grandfather Bobby MacLeod, the acclaimed accordionist, was on the crew in the 1940s and was instrumental in the re-opening of the lifeboat station in 1990.
Three shouts in 36 hours
“Bobby’s grandfather, Robert M. MacLeod was a mechanic on the Waveney class lifeboat when the station re-opened and later became the honorary secretary.”
“Bobby’s father Paul ‘Gunny’ Gunn is the current station mechanic and both of Bobby’s uncles, Robert Norman MacLeod and Donald MacLeod also both served on the crew for many years.”
In the week where Bobby attended his first shout, the crew were called three times within 36 hours.
They were called to the aid of a woman with a serious head injury on a yacht, a nighttime search in rough weather off the Isle of Tiree, and helping a yacht in trouble into Tobermory Bay.
Tobermory RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Dr Sam Jones said: ‘This was a busy couple of days for our volunteers.
“The informant on Tiree did absolutely the right thing by calling the Coastguard.
“If you see anything which suggests that someone might be in trouble at sea, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”
