As a keen sailor and avid supporter of the RNLI Graeme Montgomery, director at Montgomery Irwin Architects was part of a small crew brought together to row to Islay to recreate a journey made over the generations using only manpower to raise money for the lifeboats.
The team were fortunate to be able to borrow ‘Home to Portrush’, a famous local boat that had crossed the Atlantic in record time in February 2018. Their challenge was to visit all the coastal distilleries on Islay and collect some whiskey from each one.
Ashley Moore, one of the crew, said “We left from Ballintoy at 3am in idyllic conditions in order to reach Port Ellen and not be swept around the headland as the tide turned. Thankfully we made it in nine and a half hours and over the next three days went on to visit Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Coal Ila, Bunnahabhain, Bowmore and Bruichladdich collecting whisky bottles along the way.”
'We were blown away by the warmth of the welcome across Islay and the distilleries – we were given many offers of food and accommodation and each distillery presented us with a bottle of whisky and a stave from one of their barrels to allow us to create the Islay Sea Collection'.
Photo credit: RNLI/Portrush
On returning home Graeme set about using a stave from each distillery to design and create a unique cask to display the bottles of whisky. The source of each stave is marked and the overall effect is a truly unique display of Islay whisky called the ‘Islay Sea Collection’.
The team created a short film to give a flavour of their adventure and how the cask was made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77ZRWUO35D4
Keith Gilmore Lifeboat Operations Manager at Portrush Station said: 'This is a really exciting and novel way to raise funds for the two stations. We often have to work with Islay, and this is a great way to work with one of our neighbours and local supporters to raise funds for the RNLI.’
Ashley Moore added, “This was a really fun way to see the Scottish islands in a different way while helping to raise funds to support the work of the RNLI – and to enjoy some exceptional whisky! As sea lovers each one of our team never takes for granted the exceptional and brave work of the lifeboat crews and we are so grateful to know they are there whenever needed.”