Macduff Lifeboat Station

Macduff Lifeboat Station
Macduff Lifeboat Station
	Macduff Lifeboat Station with lifeboat Lydia Macdonald on display next to the Scania launch vehicle
	Macduff, Aberdeenshire
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Address	Laing Street
Town or city	Macduff, Aberdeenshire, AB44 1RD
Country	Scotland, UK
Coordinates	57°40′21.7″N 2°29′39.5″W / 57.672694°N 2.494306°W
Opened	1860
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
	Macduff RNLI Lifeboat Station

Macduff Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station located in Macduff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom.

The current station in Macduff became operational in March 1974 when the Mk1 Barnett-class lifeboat James and Margaret Boyd (ON 913) was stationed there for a trial period of one year. She had previously served at Stornoway for 19 years. In March 1975, the Committee of Management agreed that a permanent station should be re-established.^[1]

The lifeboat station in this part of Aberdeenshire has been located in various locations in Banff & Macduff, and between 1923 and 1969, the station was located in Whitehills, three miles to the west of Macduff. Supporters and volunteers treat the station as 'one', regardless of the location.

The station is currently equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Skipasund (B-933), funded by a donation from the Skipasund Foundation. Skipasund was officially handed over to the RNLI and named at a ceremony at the lifeboat station on 10 June 2023.

The launch & recovery system at Macduff is unique within the RNLI, being the only station where the boat is stored, launched and recovered from a mobile davit, which is essentially, a HGV with a crane.^[1]

History

In 1859, Capt. MacDonald, Commander of H.M. Coastguard, Banff, responded to the RNLI, who at the time were keen to place more lifeboats on the coast of Scotland. With the support of the Banff Harbour Trustees, he gained considerable support locally, and the RNLI placed a lifeboat at Banff in 1860.^[2]

The station was officially renamed "Banff & Macduff" in 1902, although it appears to have been known by that name in most publications since 1860.^[3]

In 1923, the lifeboat was relocated to Whitehills Harbour, with the name changed to Whitehills Lifeboat Station in 1924.
After 45 years, with lifeboat cover provided by Buckie and Fraserburgh, it was decided to close the Whitehills station in 1969.^[3]

For earlier history, please see

The 1969 decision to withdraw the All-weather lifeboat was reversed in 1974, and a station was re-established, but this time located at Macduff. A twenty-year old 52-foot Barnett-class lifeboat was placed on service for one year, followed by a relatively new 2-year old Solent-class lifeboat, 48-016 Douglas Currie (ON 1021), which would serve Macduff for the next nine years.

In 1984, the station closed again briefly, the All-weather lifeboat being withdrawn once again, and replaced with a B-class (Atlantic 21) Inshore lifeboat Guide Friendship II (B-530) in 1985.^[1]

Station locations and names

Dates	Station Name	Location	Comments
1860–1877	Banff	Deveronside/High Shore
1877–1902	Banff	Banff Bridge
1902–1923	Banff & Macduff	Banff Bridge
1923–1924	Banff & Macduff	Whitehills
1924–1969	Whitehills	Whitehills	^{[Note 1]}
1973–1984	Macduff	Macduff	^{[Note 2]}
1985–	Macduff	Macduff	^{[Note 3]}