PARA Handy himself would have been proud of the colourful vessel launched yesterday on the Forth and Clyde Canal.
''Sure, she is a grand little ship, and if Dougie had been there he would have told you himself.''
As the sun shone, a bottle of champagne was broken on to the puffer boat the Wee Spark, watched proudly by its builder Mr Jim MacFarlane.
The boat - a one-third size replica of the original puffers - is the result of two years' work by Mr MacFarlane, 60, a heating contractor from Bowling, west Dunbartonshire, and member of the Forth and Clyde Canal Society.
Puffers, as seen in the comedy series Para Handy in the shape of The Vital Spark, used to be the lifeline of the islands across the west coast of Scotland, taking coal and supplies to communities.
The 25ft by 8ft replica is just one of several craft Mr MacFarlane has created in his workshop. The vessel, with its mast made out of an old railway sleeper and hull from leftover scraps of metal, brought cheers from onlookers.
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