We've just taken delivery of The Wreck of the Racehorse, the story of a sloop of war which wrecked on the rocks in the picture, 200 years ago this year.  The wreck site is just across the bay from Castletown, the Isle of Man's old capital, and the heroic efforts of volunteers to save the crew of the stricken ship helped convince William Hillary to found what became the RNLI.

They succeeded too.  Of nearly one hundred people on board Racehorse, only six were lost.  Sadly three of the Castletown volunteers also died.

The boat visible above the Skerranes - the rocks - is HMS Severn, a Royal Navy offshore patrol vessel which just happened to be passing when we were photographing.  There's a better picture of her in the book.

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