Floral tributes at Mallaig after popular fisherman dies at sea
Dozens of floral tributes were laid at Mallaig harbour and aboard two local fishing boats following the tragic death of popular fisherman Lachlan Robertson.
Mr Robertson, 61, died on Thursday after he and a fellow crew member aboard the fishing vessel the Reul a’Chuain fell into the sea in the Sound of Rum.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said it was around 5.30pm on Thursday that officers were alerted and told the Lochaber Times: ‘Emergency services attended, including the RNLI Lifeboat from Mallaig and HMCG helicopter from Stornoway. Both men were recovered from the water but one, a 61-year-old man, was sadly pronounced dead. There are no suspicious circumstances and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.’ The other man suffered minor injury and did not require any hospital treatment.
After the incident, Mr Robertson’s daughters, Kenna and Rachael Robertson, told mourners they could lay flowers at Mallaig Harbour in tribute to their dad, also known as Lachie.
An online post read: ‘Investigations will be ongoing in the morning, but you are welcome to leave flowers by the statues at CalMac in the morning which we will move later, or go to the boat in the afternoon to leave them.
‘Thank you everyone for your kind words. The support from the community has been amazing and much appreciated.’
On Saturday, Mallaig Football Club held a minute’s silence ahead of the match against Portree to pay their respects to Mr Robertson.
A post on the club’s Facebook page after the match read: ‘Before we come to the reaction from today’s game, we’d like to pay our respect to Lachie Robertson who sadly passed away recently.
‘A great local character who was much loved by so many in the area, he will be greatly missed.
‘Both sides paid tribute with a minute’s silence before today’s match. RIP Lachie.’
After the weekend, which saw many flowers and bouquets left at the harbour and aboard not just the Reul a’Chuain but also the Nighean Donn, which was the second boat Mr Robertson had, Kenna posted: ‘What an overwhelming response from the last post. Thank you everyone.
‘There are too many messages to reply to, but we have read each and everyone one. We have moved the flowers to dad’s house to enable the boat to be moved and have kept all the little messages sent with the flowers.’
There was also a large number of tributes paid on social media. One woman posted: ‘Beautiful flowers at such a heartbreaking time - your father, Lachie was held in high esteem and loved by many.’
Another said: ‘...your dad was a true gentleman, he will be missed by so many,’ while another said: ‘your Dad was very highly thought of by all who knew him’, and yet another described Mr Robertson as ‘A true Highland gentleman’.