A charity which provides seafaring experiences for sick children and people with learning difficulties has launched a new boat named after a late Broughty Ferry artist.
Taymara, a maritime organisation based at the historic North Carr lightship in the City Quay, operate river experiences for children suffering from cancer and other serious illnesses at Ninewells hospital.
Their newest acquisition, a 7.5 metre Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB), will be used to take groups of children and their families on to the river, to take their minds off the “traumatic” illness they are suffering.
The boat has been named the Bushe Craft, after late artist and Taymara member Ken Bushe.
Mr Bushe, who also ran the organisation’s website, was a landscape painter who sadly passed away in early 2016.
David Kitt, development officer at Taymara, said the Bushe Craft would be used as an educational tool for the ill youngsters, providing them with something to look forward to during an otherwise difficult time in their lives.
He said: “We work with children with cancer and other serious illnesses, and take them out in the boat for about an hour at a time, to teach them various things about maritime life.
“It is always a delight to be able to take the children out on these excursions on to the Tay. It takes them away, for a short time anyway, from the trauma they are experiencing.
“We teach kids maritime skills, such as driving a boat, navigating at sea, history of the river and about the wildlife which lives in the water and on the land.
“We also talk about the history of the Port of Dundee, and of course are always on the lookout for Tay dolphins.”
Taymara also work with the charity Options for Life, taking children and adults with learning difficulties on to the river for a similar maritime experience.
In addition to this, they work as an educational organisation for offenders at Castle Huntly, as part of rehabilitation efforts.
Taymara operate five other boats, which serve different purposes depending on what is required of them.
David notes a recent survey from a similar project the group undertook in 2014, which showed a good majority of the children who had been taken out on a trip were still keen on talking about maritime activities six months later.
David hopes children who are taken out on trips over the next year will be able to look back on their trip with fondness.
