A rewarding quest

“Launch at Pittenweem Harbour is how The Courier headed its report on the launch of the fishing boat Courageous built by D. A. Reekie for Mr Robert Wilson (Peattie), Calman’s Wynd, Pittenweem,” emails Derek Bacon of Coleraine, N. Ireland. “My press cutting is dated Saturday, November 10, 1923.

“Blazing Boat off Fife Coast heads a second cutting, dated September 14 1935, recording the part played by Mr Wilson and his boat in the rescue of six Pittenweem men off the burning fishing vessel Hughes.

“Ten years later Courageous, now operating from Portstewart on the coast of Northern Ireland, served once more as a rescue/salvage vessel when a local boat went to the bottom without loss of life in a night-time collision.

“Courageous had changed ownership in 1938 when Alexander Bacon and his two brothers journeyed to the Fife coast in search of a suitable replacement vessel when their 1903-built trawler Emily foundered on her berth in a storm at Portstewart.

“At Pittenweem they found what they were looking for. The Bacons’ new boat arrived home before the wreck of the old one had been removed from the quayside. A photographer from Valentine of Dundee happened to take a shot of Portstewart harbour for a postcard during this time.

“Alexander was my grandfather and a short time before he died he took me down into the tarry darkness below the deck of Courageous. By the time I was old enough to appreciate him and his generation the inshore fishing industry was over.

“But that childhood memory is still vivid and is a powerful driver of my search for information and for a close and clear photograph of the vessel.

“It has been a rewarding quest. I cannot speak too highly of the Scottish Fisheries Museum where staff identified the boat and National Records of Scotland confirmed that Courageous was registered ML135 from her launch in 1923 to her sale in 1938. East Neuk Boatbuilders ran an enquiry and Pittenweem Community Association provided leads. However, to date, no image of Courageous has emerged.

“If anyone can help in this regard, I would be grateful if they would contact me by email at d.bacon685@btinternet. com”

The boat Emily taken in the early-mid 1930s. The picture shows the three brothers who travelled to Pittenweem to purchase Courageous. See above for the story.