A TINY Skye ferry boat has joined the list of the UK’s most historic ships.
The 40 ft-long wooden MV Misty Isle sails amid the stunning scenery of the west of Scotland carrying passengers to the foot of the Black Cuillin mountains.
Now 50 years old, the wooden boat has been given similar status to legendary vessels such as RRS Discovery, the Royal Yacht Britannia and the Waverley
The name MV Misty Isle has been added to the National Historic Ships UK Register.
Built in 1965 by Percy Mitchell of Cornwall, one of the finest traditional boat builders in the world, it was first used to ferry Boy Scouts between Poole and Brownsea Island.
Now it ploughs the crystal clear waters around Skye surrounded by seals, dolphins, porpoises and soaring golden eagles.
It was bought by Seumas and Anne Mackinnon for their business Misty Isle Boat Trips and lovingly restored in Oban.
“She is 50 this year,” explained Anne. “We bought her the end of 2004. My husband stripped her right back.
“Every year he spends three months of the year working on her.
“Fibre glass boats you can just hose down. She needs sanded and painted, vanished. Stripped back and redone.
“She’s exactly as she would have been.”
Anne continued: “She does two trips a day in the summer weather permitting.
“Passengers visit Loch Coruisk. The first trips recorded were by Sir Walter Scott about 200 years ago.”
The historic steamer Sir Walter Scott, which takes visitors on Loch Katrine, is also listed.
Speaking about couples who choose MV Misty Isle as their wedding transportation Anne explained: “Relative got married on Loch Coruisk a few years back.
“A couple of couples came and from then it seems to have taken off. We have quite a few weddings.
“We’ve had a couple of people get married on the boat.”
National Historic Ships UK register helps to preserve historically important vessels in the UK.
The Misty Isles joins a list of some 2,000 historic ships of which only 105 are based in Scotland.
Included in the subgroup of The National Historic Fleet are iconic vessels including RRS Discovery in Dundee, the Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh and the Waverly which travels the British coast.
Seumas said: “We’re really excited at this recognition and see it as a very welcome reward for the thousands of hours spent arduously maintaining Misty Isle to the exacting standards required to be placed within the National Historic Ships Register.
“We were really quite surprised how few Highland vessels remain upon the register, which is such a shame.
“But it is a sign of the times I suppose.”
