Where are they now?

Of the four 1912 cobles only one has survived. OB 209, the boat in the packing shed.

The “rotten boat” visible in the 1975 photographs, one of the 26ft boats was burnt in 1976, the third 26ft boat, the one behind the hotel in Strontian disappeared in the 1980s. She may have been lost in the fire that destroyed the hotel.

The “Wee Coble” sadly ended her days rotting and full of sand on the beach at Ardtoe.

OB 226 “Iolair” continued to work out of Kilchoan until well into the 2010s when she came to rest ashore at the top of the Kilchoan Jetty. When the Jetty was being rebuilt she was moved to Ockle, a few miles to the east of Fascadale and is still ashore.

Sadly perhaps, these salmon cobles were such specialised boats that very few found a new purpose. All around Scotland’s coast many were left to rot, many just burnt, and some turned childrens play places