Dunbar Harbour Trust Newsletter, April 2019
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| Hello Visitor, Here is your Dunbar Harbour Trust Newsletter for April 2019. In this issue: A Smurf inspects the North Wall
Robin Hamilton of the Harbour Trust has continued overseeing the harbour wall-repairs. Robin is not the Smurf, by the way.
Where was the Marine Scotland Grant £107.5k grant used?
What was this meticulous Smurf looking for? Maybe a damaged block? Click READ MORE below to find out. photos by Kenny Maule Read More RNLI slipway/ramp extension
This giant green crane costs £2,000/day and drives at a maximum of 40mph. Want to hire it? -- then remember you also pay for (very slow) positioning costs! The work has been a 9m. extension to the slipway, from the west edge of the bridge directly into Victoria Harbour in order to improve tidal access for the RNLI’s ILB launch and recovery. There has been temporary closure of the Broadhaven slipway and divers were down for several days (!), to be less dependent on the tides. The work caused occasional inconvenience for harbour users however work-dates were changed to make allowance for the craning-in boat lift on 12 April. The works are expected to cease by May 3rd, so fingers crossed. photos by Kenny Maule Read More Audit of the lifting bridge
As part of the Marine Scotland grant for Harbour Repairs an audit of the lifting bridge was carried out by specialist consultants on moving structures. This is like a car MOT and looks at each component of the bridge. It identified and detailed further investigation into bridge bearings and hydraulics, also advice on controlling the opening/ closing of the bridge. photo by Kenny Maule
Lifejackets and the importance of being earnest ….
No matter how short the boat-trip, lifejackets are vitally important.
These kids are clearly safety-concious. Are your lifejackets maintained and correctly-adjusted ? photos by Kenny Maule, with permission from their parents. Read More Esperanza, Greenpeace visit
Esperanza, one of the Greenpeace ships, called by and anchored one night, just outside the harbour before heading north. She (it, in modern parlance) is a converted fishery-patrol vessel. Click READ MORE for the technically-minded. photo by Kenny Maule
Read More Humpback whale washed up on Tyninghame Beach Recently a humpback whale was washed on Tyninghame Beach, entangling ropes still attached, already dead. Apparently it was the whale seen several weeks ago entangled in creel ropes in the Forth and seems to have drowned when it lost control of its surfacing ability.
The RNLI Inshore (ILB) floated it off the beach, the Offshore (OLB) slowly towed it to Skateraw. Two tractors pulled it above the waterline where the scientists dissected it on the beach and veterinary pathologist Dr Andrew Brownlow performed a necropsy. As a result of the entanglement, the whale lost condition and was therefore more susceptible to the effects of infection and parasitism, which debilitated it further. The lungs evidenced that it had eventually drowned, either through exhaustion, or because it became further entangled. Entanglements are a relatively rare occurrence in Scottish waters but can pose a threat to human safety also. This humpback is estimated to be 9m long, weighing around 8 tonnes (adults range in length from 12–16 m and weigh around 25–30 tonnes). Dunbar’s harbourmaster and the fishermen are working with the Scottish Entanglement Alliance (SEA) dedicated to promoting and protecting Scotland’s wildlife, heritage, and sustainable marine industries. SEA will work closely with the Scottish inshore fishing industry to provide an engagement programme to understand the scale and impact of marine animal entanglements in our waters, and work towards developing strategies to reduce this threat. https://www.scottishentanglement.org/ Very sad. photos by Kenny Maule
Read More Flitting north by boat ...
Bob Clunas has returned briefly to Dunbar, fettled his ‘fifie’ Marean and and is ready to sail 330 miles to his new home in Helmsdale by crossing Scotland twice using three Scottish canals, routing via:
Click READ MORE for a map of his route. photo 1 by Kenny Maule and photo 2 from googlemaps. Read More Pirates of the East Coast A sponsored walk from North Berwick Harbour to Dunbar Harbour. Would you like to participate in a sponsored walk to help us raise funds for our annual Sparkling Dunbar Harbour Festival where peculiar pirates visit every year? A fabulous and free annual community event! Event Details: Voodz, the vicious pirate will lead you along the John Muir Way with her villainous friends to occupy lands and vanquish our rivals. Argh mateys, are you up for the challenge? Register here: https://bit.ly/2Ur8RQj Location: North Berwick Harbour to Dunbar Harbour, along the John Muir Way (approx. 12 miles) Date:Sun 26th May Time: 10:15 departure. Meet outside the Seabird Centre, North Berwick at 9:30 approx. Another way to register contact the organiser email: yvonnewemyss@outlook.com Confirmation of your registration and a sponsor form will be sent to you after you register. photos by Fraser Stewart Read More Craning-in day
Johnny practices his macrame: "whit a guddle, man" Winter has finished and, despite wind and rain, a lot of maintenance has been completed so the leisure boats were craned in on 12th April. The Sailing Club organises this tricky series of manoeuvres and, as usual, it was completed in good time, and safely too. Luckily it was Friday the 12th, not Friday the 13th. photos by Kenny Maule Click READ MORE to see Davey's boat fly-y--y-y- - - Read More Spring Cleaning Painting of yellow bollards and ladders. The 'Cooncil' recently sent men to Victoria Harbour to paint harbourside bollards and ladders in a spring-like bright yellow; this will aid mariners, especially visiting mariners. photos by Kenny Maule Read More Black Agnes repaint and Rowing through the castle’s secret arch.
The Rowing Club’s ‘Black Agnes’ has just completed a rebuild, done with great care by crew-members, and recently took to the water again.
Next stop: a transit of the Caledonian Canal, taking five days from Fort William to Inverness. Click READ MORE to see how to row through the castle’s hidden arch. photo 1 by Kenny Maule Read More European Stone Stacking Championships 2019 Pedro Duran, from Spain, competing in Dunbar's annual European Stone Stacking Championships Competitors combined skill and artistic creativity to come up with gravity-defying constructions. April 20th: On the Eye Cave Beach, Saturday’s competition involved the most stones balanced vertically in 30 minutes. April 21st: Sunday’s battle was on artistic merit: Competitors created anything from any stones or objects during a three hour period. “Stone stacking is one of the most ancient art forms. It may go back to the beginning of mankind,” explained organizer James Craig Page, “The skills required to become an expert balancer artist are patience, focus, a love of nature and an unwillingness to be unhappy any more.” Inspirational! The overall winner was France’s “SP Ranza”, as well as winning the Quantity category. The winner in the Artistic category was The Netherlands’ Marianne Winter Photo credit AFP-JIJI Events coming soon: https://dunbarbattery.org.uk/topics/events/May 26th 2019; Meet at 9.30am for dep.10am --5:00 pm. estimated time 5-6 hours, distance 12 miles approx. Pirates of the East Coast, sponsored walk from North Berwick to Dunbar Battery along the John Muir Way. Meet at Seabird Centre, North Berwick. Register: https://bit.ly/2Ur8RQj or email: yvonnewemyss@outlook.com June 10th--23rd are the proposed dates for making the #LitterCUBES in Dunbar. June 15, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm: THE THREE CRAWS RETURN... June 17th; 11-- 2:00 pm. Fourth annual gathering of the East Lothian Archaeological, History and Genealogy Group. Site visit and tour of the Dunbar Battery. June 22, 2019 Bands at the Battery June 23, 2019 LITTORAL ART PROJECT June 29 to June 30, 2019 BATTERY THEATRE COMPANY - "MARY, IT BEGAN WITH A LASS..." July 3rd Wed. 11am-3pm. Environmental Open Day July 13th. RNLI Lifeboat Day August 17th. 2--6pm, Sparkling Dunbar Harbour Festival We hope you have enjoyed reading our newsletter. Please contact us with your feedback and content for the website. |
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