Founded in 1977 from monies donated by an unknown sailor, and is a Recognised Scottish Charity (SC 020014).
2010 / 2011 has again been a busy year with the police using the pager system to call out the Rescue Boat on 49 occasions compared to 57 in 2010 and 69 in 2009. More importantly and thankfully for the fourth year running we have had no fatalities on or around the shoreline of the loch and hopefully with more policing, public safety awareness, longer presence patrolling from the National Park Patrol Boat who attended 114 calls and the commitment from the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat crew who are all volunteers we can continue this for years to come.
Changes within The Loch Lomond Rescue Boat crew were Frank Roger
stepping down after four years as the Coxswain and being replaced by Deputy Coxswain Andrew Connell. Crew and Committee would like to thank Frank for the work and commitment he has given to the boat and welcome Andrew Connell in his new position on the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat. We would also welcome Rennie Oliver who was promoted to Deputy Coxswain and wish him all the best in his new position. We recruited three new crew members who are proving to be valued crew members due to their first aid skills giving us a total crew of twenty one available 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
We train every Wednesday evening and Sunday mornings throughout the year, this includes Advanced First Aid, level 2 boat handling, VHF Radio, defibrillator and general familiarisation of the Loch. We also train regularly with Arrochar and Loch Lomond Mountain Rescue Teams, Search and Rescue Dog Team, HMS Gannett
and Helensburgh Fire Brigade. This type of training is vital for the work around
the Loch’s shores, and in particular the West Highland Way which has no road access at the North East shore. The quickest and simplest way here is by boat, meaning this area contributes to a large percentage of our annual shouts. The all too familiar situation is people not being prepared for their trip, whether they didn’t have enough fuel, their engine hadn’t been serviced or they just didn’t know where they were going. These types of calls can be easily prevented but if only a little more thought can be put into preparation. It is fair to say these calls are frustrating, if they are left unattended and conditions change they could then develop into a more serious situation.
Our most recient training excercise was with Lomond Mountain Rescue on Sunday 22nd April.
It was a 9:45 start at Sallochy Bay meeting with LMRT for a for a search and recovery exercise. The scenario's involved four casualties missing from the caravan and campsite at Sallochy. The missing individuals are a father and son and another party of two males.
The father and son (aged eleven) went exploring and hadn’t returned when expected. Both had been missing for nearly three hours. They were heading north west along the West Highland Way and last seen passing Sallochy, they then detoured into the rocky cleft at Ross Point to explore. The father 
had fallen in one of the howfs, was unconscious and in a vague recovery position with a serious head wound. Diabetic eleven year old son was unsure what to do, didn't want to leave but did. He walked to the shoreline to attract attention and get help for his father. During a shore search the Rescue Boat Crew spotted the son who quickly became moody and quietly slipped into a diabetic coma and required suitable treatment urgently. First aid was administered and he quickly came round and made comfortable. Two Mountain Rescue teams found the father and after a difficult recovery brought him back on a stretcher to the boat.
The other two who left together to investigate the Fort and possibly inchlonaig again hadn’t been seen.During the crossing to Inchlonaig by inflatable they where hit by a rogue jet ski who had left the
scene.One of the males (an inflatable dummy) had taken the brunt of the force of the jet ski. He had an arm through the loops of a drifting inflatable but was dead on arrival. The other male had sustained a blow to the head and once making the shoreline on Inchlonaig, had taken off to the higher ground. He was found by the other Mountain Rescue Team dropped off earlier and brought back to the boat again by stretcher.
Once all back at Sallochy Bay Carpark a quick de-brief was held to discuss any issues from the daysexercise.The crew of the Rescue Boat would like to thank Lomond Mountain Rescue Team for organising the exercise.
We provided safety cover at organised events throughout the year and are always happy to help with such events. These include at the beginning of each year Loch Lomond Ski Club’s new years day fancy dress sponsored ski. We also had a triathlon at Balloch Park on 16th July with many swimmers in the water and thankfully no incidents.
Out of the forty nine shouts this year there was probably about ten to twelve which were life threatening, and without a quick response and professionalism from the Rescue Boat Crew and other emergency services could have turned out to have a completely different result.
We are an independent charity run entirely by volunteers and funded by public donations. This season has seen a large amount of this money being spent on new equipment e.g. new drysuits, lifejackets, New Communications for the boat and the general running costs for the boat which includes insurance, fuel and general upkeep of the boatshed.
The committee and crew of the Rescue Boat were much saddened by the unexpected death on 3rd August 2011 of our Secretary Ian Bisland.
Ian first became involved with our charity in August 1995, he became Secretary in January 2001. For all these years he worked tirelessly for the Rescue Boat and proved to be a highly efficient, enthusiastic and committed in his decade as our Secretary. He will be much greatly missed and a “hard act to follow”.
Again we would like to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the season and look forward to the continued support in the future.
Clinton Salter
2nd Coxswain