'My first thought was that we were going to die'

ROSS TIGER SKIPPER RECALLS THE HARROWING MOMENT HE NEARLY LOST HIS LIFE AT SEA

- By DEBORAH HALL

A FORMER Ross Tiger skipper has paid a visit to the lifeboat that saved his life, during a recent trip to Scotland.

Dennis Avery, the Ross Tiger's longest serving skipper of eight years, called at the Scottish Maritime Museum to fulfil the wish of a lifetime.

The RNLB TGB came to Dennis's rescue back in 1968 when the Ross Puma he was then serving on was shipwrecked off Little Rackwick Bay, in the Orkney Islands.

Dennis, aged 26 at the time and the ship's mate, had not seen the lifeboat since it saved his life, making the trip even more special.

Sadly, the crew who rescued him were tragically lost in the Longhope lifeboat disaster just months afterwards.

Tying the visit together was MA student at the University of Strathclyde, Amber Thornborrow, who has helped collate an exhibition about the TGB vessel.

Amber is also a relative of the legendary coxswain of the TGB

Daniel Kirkpatrick who sadly perished alongside his seven crew members when their lifeboat capsized in the Longhope lifeboat disaster.

Amber had written about the Ross Puma rescue for her exhibition but had not expected to meet one of the survivors.