It could be the middle of the night, weekday or weekend, but one thing was always for sure.
Gairloch Coastguard, in the remote western Highlands, could rely on Donald Grant to gather a team when the rescue alarm was raised.
Donald, 72, a crofter who lives by the shore of Loch Maree, has just been presented with a long service award. He has retired after serving more than 50 years with Gairloch Coastguard Rescue Team.
He joked: “One of the reasons they could rely on me, is that I must be an unusual Highlander in that I don’t drink. I just never fancied it. I saw too many people falling about stupid. And thought, that’s not for me.
“So they would always say, ‘phone Donald, he will be able to get a team out.'”
This has been quite a year for HM Coastguard. It is the year they went from being Her Majesty’s Coastguard to His Majesty’s Coastguard.
A special year for Donald and HM Coastguard
And the year that the coastguard honoured its own history – all 200 years of it.
Donald Grant has been serving for a quarter of that time.
In that time he responded to many calls for help and saw countless changes.
He said: “When I first started there were 20 people, it was almost impossible to get into the team. I went in as a young boy. As a volunteer you got 10 bob for each time you appeared – 50p today. That was good money at the time.
“Call outs could be any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You didn’t know where you were going to be or when.
“I worked in the forestry for years and later I continued with my croft where I ran sheep and cattle.”
When he began, there were still Breeches Buoys being used in lifesaving rescues. Donald says that in the early days there were significant differences in how things were done.
He described how Breeches Buoys worked: “If there was a boat in trouble, you fired a rocket on to the boat, tied the buoy on to the boat and winched people back and forth as they held on. Health and safety was hardly heard of then.”
Reminiscing, Donald said: “I can remember the times when we would do a shoreline search with four people with one torch between us. Now we have an array of equipment, techniques, and vehicles to assist us in conducting search and rescue.
The same thing drives us to rescue
“And yet in all that time, despite all those changes, one thing has stayed the same – the same thing drives us to seek to search, rescue and save.”
His fondest memories were being able to rescue people in trouble.
But Donald added: “There are high points. But you have got to be someone who can cope with low points as well. When someone doesn’t survive. Some call outs could end in disaster before you even got there. Or in the middle.
“I am lucky in that I can switch off from it.
“There were a lot of laughs too. One time many years ago we were called to the harbour. One man who was on holiday slipped and fell off the pier into the water.
“He was OK. We were all standing there. The first thing his wife said to him was, ‘Darling, are you wet?’ He just looked at her.”
Reflecting on times gone by, Donald said: “The beauty of it was the old team all worked terrific together. The old men knew every corner. Nowadays we have modern technology. Before we depended on the old man up the road who would direct you exactly where to go.”
Now he has retired he is keeping busy on his croft. And helping some of his elderly neighbours with their gardening.
Donald celebrated another important milestone this year. On June 2 he and wife Isobel had their 50th anniversary. They have a daughter, two sons and six grandchildren.
Valedictory certificate presentation
At a presentation in the new Gairloch Coastguard Rescue Station, Donald received a certificate for his long service. He officially joined HM Coastguard on September 7 1971, although was involved from the mid 1960s.
Donald received his award from Divisional Commander Matt MacKay.
Matt said: “Donald’s dedication and commitment to HM Coastguard and the wider community for more than 50 years, is a remarkable achievement and sets an example to us all.”
Are you interested in becoming a Volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officer in Area 2? It covers the area from Inverness to Gairloch. Why not contact the coastguard by email at Area2@mcga.gov.uk.
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