A fishing boat owner yesterday paid tribute to its builders after the vessel survived being driven ashore and battered for several hours by the recent storms.
Gale force winds ripped the 55ft scallop dredger Crimson Arrow from its mooring at Kerrera island and blew it across Oban Bay on Saturday morning.
The wooden boat was then battered on the beach at Dunollie before it finally settled on the shore above the waterline before being pulled clear at high tide.
David Fraser, of Oban, said: “The very fact she is still floating is a testament to the good building that went on in Fraserburgh in 1961. There are not many boats built nowadays that would withstand what it went through.
“It went on the beach about 5am on Saturday. It got a good bumping for three or four hours.”
The boat was pulled off the beach by the Rois Mhairi, a scallop boat owned by John MacAllister, but due to the continuing bad weather, any damage to the Crimson Arrow cannot be properly assessed where she is berth at the North Pier after Sunday’s rescue.
Mr Fraser said: “There is some damage but we can’t move it anywhere to get it fixed because of the weather. To take it to a shipyard it will involve a six hour passage to Mallaig, so we need to make sure it is safe before moving it.