16th to 23rd September.

There was a temporary 8 days partial closure of the main slipway and restricted access between the inner and outer harbours. At Broadhaven slipway and under the bridge, the divers and workers were busy making alterations to the slipway extension in order to improve tidal access for the RNLI's ILB.  

Watching the works was a spectacle for viewers. The slipway has been extended 9m from its west edge directly into Victoria Harbour.

Photos by Kenny Maule, Click <<READ MORE>> for a 'ghostly' photo 2

Barry says: "we are lucky enough to have the best sign writer in East Lothian to come to the One Man and His Boat shed, and paint on our carvings and markings on the Lynsey B's hull."   

'Thomas Paints' signwriting, 07519 953857, signwriting, gold-leaf etc.

Watch Barry on youtube: remember to Like, or even better, to Subscribe to his films

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBPqQmHu9cg&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0D36It8qU_8Nav3d_r5ME49mCXcGg4XJhaqp_2icUcTxvl_K0vQ14Tllc

Photos from Barry's youtube site. Click <<READ MORE>> for photo of the finished job.

Arte -- a TV company, much-watched in France, Germany and around the world, interviewed Dunbar's Roy Pugh for a programme on Black Agnes and her heroics during a 6-month seige in 1338. You can watch it here (there is an option to change the language)

Arte TV, link  https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/099163-000-A/a-dunbar-n-enervez-pas-la-comtesse/

Photo 1: Roy recounting history. Click <<READ MORE>> for photo 2: Black Agnes in action!

During August there were several 'gushes' from the pipe leading into Broadhaven. This pipe is intended to release only excess surface water. The Trust and the Harbourmaster badgered SEPA who badgered Scottish Water who then made several repairs to the pipe without result. Further investigation revealed a 'fat' blockage further up the line, diverting waste-water the wrong way. After repairs to this, the fault was cured.

Photos by Kenny Maule. (1) 'waste water' evidence. Click <<READ MORE>> for photo (2) repair crew 'in action'.

On 24 July 2019 at Loch Carnan, Outer Hebrides, the owner/skipper of the single-handed creel fishing boat, May C, was found close to his boat in the sea and unconscious by the crew of another small boat. He was recovered onto the walkway of a fish farm to commence CPR. Unable to revive him, they then took him to a nearby jetty where an ambulance was in attendance. Despite being taken ashore, May C’s skipper could not be resuscitated and the postmortem examination established that he had drowned. The weather conditions were fine with calm seas and a gentle breeze; the sea temperature was 14°C.

Safety Lessons

• Most likely he fell overboard and drowned while trying to clear weed or some other obstruction from his propeller. 
• He was not wearing his personal flotation device (PFD) or carrying his personal locator beacon (PLB).
• Single-handed fishing operations are extremely hazardous, primarily because there is no-one there to help if you get into difficulties. 
• Every fishing vessel should have a method of recovering a man overboard back into the boat. The fact that the two crew of the boat who found May C’s skipper were unable to immediately recover him out of the water is testament of the extreme physical effort required to haul someone out of the sea. 

MAIB’s investigation reports are posted on: www.gov.uk/maib. 

Photo courtesy the MAIB website

Members of the Harbour Volunteers, who do many tasks to keep the harbour area tidy and maintained, re-seeded the worn grass at the Battery. Much watering has been carried out, due to the drying sun and wind.

• Members also repaired the theatre planking damaged twice by youngsters trying to access the electricity.
• Additionally a badly-damaged, vandalised interpretation panel is being welded.
• Please, would everyone keep an eye out for misbehaviour and act accordingly.

Photo by Yvonne Wemyss

Belhaven Lobsters:  "You catch one blue lobster and another one comes along two weeks later!! Slightly more vivid than our last one, this bluey has been donated to @lobsterhatchery at North Berwick. Their names are Cobalt and Sapphire. Blue lobsters are rare. There are other rarer lobsters such as the yellow lobster and the albino or crystal lobster, which occurs in only 1 in 100 million lobsters."

The lobster's blue coloration is a result of a genetic defect that causes the lobster to produce more of a certain protein. Blue lobsters occur about one in every two million lobsters. Once cooked, the blue lobster would taste the same as the other red lobsters.

Blue lobsters might not be the most unusual, but they are undoubtedly the prettiest to look at. 

Feeling hungry? Contact:  tel: 07833 770059,  belhavenlobster@gmail.com, Fisherman’s Stores, Victoria Harbour, Dunbar, EH42 1HX.

Photos from Belhaven Lobsters. Click <<READ MORE>> for photo 2 of Belhaven Lobster.

Both Anstruther lifeboats were recently tasked by the Coastguard after a call was made by someone in Anstruther who spotted a windsurfer in difficulty south of the May Island. The eagle-eyed caller saw him whilst looking through a telescope from home in Anstruther.

After a short search, the windsurfer was located 10 miles from Anstruther and still a further 6 miles from his destination of Dunbar. The decision was made to take him to the safety of the closer Dunbar harbour which launched the ILB to assist with the entry into a narrow and blustery harbour mouth. The crews even managed to retrieve the windsurf-board!

Anstruther's Shelley Watson said: "We would like to praise the efforts of the caller who not only spotted the windsurfer in difficulty but dialled 999 and asked for the Coastguard."

Photos by Kenny Maule, Click <<READ MORE>> for photo 2, offshore rendezvous as darkness approaches.

Carioca, the late Bill Taylor's yacht, sailed from Dunbar for many years. She then sat on the 'hard' at Cromwell for 3 years, being recently sold to a new owner. The photo shows her being loaded onto a trailer: destination West Wales.

And in answer to your question: Carioca means an inhabitant of Rio de Janeiro, and is also the local dance.

Photo by Kenny Maule

Let's consider the poisonous problem of people idling their vehicles (and boat engines!) and we are all breathing in these noxious fumes. 

On Clean Air Day, Thursday Oct. 8th., you may see the Harbourmaster giving CAD-branded bandanas (face coverings) to people around the harbour who are idling their engines. Let's all support clean air and switch off our engines whenever possible, from now and forever, and encourage others to do the same. Children (and adults) will thank you.

Covid blocked the 2020 Round Scotland Row, planned for September, so using our imagination and intimate knowledge of our coastline, we made an East Lothian Virtual Row. For high jinks, see all 6 days with links below:--

https://www.rowaround.scot/virtual_legs/st-marys-loch-to-gretna-section-13/

Photo above by Christine Mincher

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The Harbourmaster has placed stickers, with interesting messages including Robert Burns, on the bins to encourage us to take our litter home (first choice) or place it in the bin (second choice). Crush cans/plastic bottles and those humongous pizza boxes to avoid overfilling the bins, please!

Photo by Quentin Dimmer

Above, 'Davy Jones' is trying to attract your attention. He asks you to correctly dispose of your gloves and other nautical litter.

During the recent slipway extension, the small amount of mud excavated contained 100+ rubber gloves. These gloves are used mainly by fishermen and sometimes by yachtsmen. The mud also had plastic, glass and metal; some was obviously historical but I'm sure we can all try harder in future to please 'Davy Jones'.

Photo by Kenny Maule 

Unexpected visitors: 1938 Lagonda, V12 'Le Mans' Two-seater, NPJ 680, chassis no. SS 19221. Pre-production prototype, Factory press car, '100-miles-in-the-hour' national record holder. A quite remarkable piece of automotive engineering, the W. O. Bentley-designed Lagonda V12 was one of the outstanding British models of its day and one of the exclusive handful of 1930s road cars that could exceed 100mph in standard tune.

The magnificent, 4½-litre, V12 engine produced sufficient torque to endow the car with a walking-pace-to-maximum capability in top gear. In October 1938, Earl Howe set a new national record by covering 101.5 miles at Brooklands in a single hour, despite having to stop to change a burst tyre. WW2 prematurely ended production.

Also, two early Fords, and their proud owners, visited from Arbroath and stopped by at Cromwell Harbour for a chat and a breath of Dunbar's fresh air.

Photos by Kenny Maule: Lagonda.

Click <<READ MORE>> for the Fords.

Most walkers have admired the 8 cygnets at the Biel Burn, tended by their parents. 

After about five to six weeks, the cygnets start to grow some proper feathers. These appear to first develop in the region of their growing wings, on their shoulders and then in the vicinity of their tail; after that, their belly and sides. Over the next few weeks, their entire body will moult the rest of their fluffy down and replace with feathers. The last place for the feathers to appear is on the head and neck.

This great photo was taken by Elaine Porteous. 

Click <<READ MORE>> for Kenny Maule's photo of a family dinner for 10!