A master mariner who became hugely influential in moves to create the Inner Moray Firth’s first lifeboat station will be laid to rest in Inverness tomorrow (Saturday).
Captain John ‘Ian’ Fairgrieve deployed his great wealth of seafaring knowledge, experience and status as Inverness Harbourmaster to persuade the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to establish RNLI Kessock.
When it opened in 1993, the North Kessock base was the RNLI’s most northerly stand-alone D-Class lifeboat station in the UK.
It has since been credited with saving dozens of lives on hundreds of rescue missions.
Captain Fairgrieve, in his active role as the station’s honorary secretary, helped recruit, train and expand an initially small and inexperienced crew of around 10 or 12 to protect lives in the Firth’s dangerous waters.
He is remembered warmly as an affable, courteous leader of men and women who carried professional gravitas but always wore that expertise lightly.
Captain Fairgrieve will be laid to rest by family, friends and past workmates at a service on Saturday, January 18 at 11am at Inverness Crematorium. Donations will be given to Raigmore Hospital’s renal unit.
He is survived by daughter Rhona, son Craig, daughter-in-law Sara and grandchildren Kate and Alex.
A master mariner is a sailor licensed to captain a merchant ship, the highest-ranking leader on board responsible for the safety, navigation and ship administration.
The distinguished qualification is required to become harbourmaster at any British port.
Captain Fairgrieve, who originally worked from Inverclyde, became Inverness Harbourmaster, having served as depute, not long after the infamous February 7, 1989 collapse of Ness Viaduct across the River Ness.
Recalling his former boss’s time at the harbour, boatman Stewart Linklater described him as a natural leader, “friendly and approachable” but always carrying a quiet air of authority.
The Orcadian, who has worked at the harbour for almost 35 years, said: “Ian was the harbourmaster who first interviewed me for the job here.
“I always found him a very open, approachable and straightforward person to deal with.
“I don’t think he had been harbourmaster for terribly long when I arrived, stepping up to replace Capt Derrick Gilmour, but he quickly came into his own from a professional point of view.
“He was the harbourmaster when HMS Inverness came to Inverness for its official naming ceremony. We had quite the function and had to clean out one of the sheds and somehow turn it into a mini-banqueting hall!
“Ian was the pilot who brought HMS Inverness in, as a brand new ship.
“He was also instrumental in an extension of the quay from two berths to four.
“He lived not far from me in Lochardil, and, in his retirement, I used to pop in and see him from time to time. We would have a wee chat and reminisce over the times.
“Anyone who gets to the position he held at the harbour comes with a wide knowledge and experience – and he had that in abundance.”
Angus Watson, the first senior helm at RNLI Kessock, emphasised the Captain’s influential role as fellow volunteer, in making the Kessock lifeboat station a reality.
Capt John (Ian) Fairgrieve with RNLI Kessock crew volunteers at the naming ceremony for the new Atlantic 75 vessel at Craigton Point.
The retired RNLI director said: “As harbourmaster in Inverness, and with his background as a master mariner, Ian was fundamental in pressing the case.
“He became our first honorary secretary but I’m certain he was working in the background for quite some time before the RNLI agreed to it.
“It would have been his knowledge of local shipping and local dangers that undoubtedly played a key part.
“Once established, his master mariner background gave us the leadership we needed.
“He was a steadying influence during all the initial training and establishing of the station.
“Every one of us crewing the boat at the time were rookies, very new to it all, but Ian’s experience and knowledge made him someone we all looked up to.
“We probably didn’t fully appreciate the significance of who was leading us. He carried it lightly, that gravitas, expertise and leadership qualities he had.
“He played a huge part in the RNLI Kessock’s history.”
Retired schoolteacher Alan McDiarmid, a fellow volunteer at RNLI Kessock who also became a helm and is now tractor driver at the station, added: “Ian’s qualities as a manager of the station were unsurpassed, I would say. He had a very pleasant, jocular manner about him which was always very endearing.
“It was largely down to Ian’s leadership, breadth of experience and the stability his firm knowledge of the sea, the local area and local conditions brought, that we have a station in the first place.
“We moved from the pier at Kessock up to the new station at Craigton Point, again under his leadership, in the early 2000s.
“That reflected a big change for the station because it was a different class of boat, faster and bigger, with much greater capabilities.
“The RNLI recognised there was a case for a bigger boat and, again, it was certainly Ian who made that case.
“Without question, over the years, dozens of lives have been saved by the Kessock lifeboat and its crews.
“Ian will always be remembered as a very prominent figure in its history.”