13 arrivals for the period
Whitefish totalled 300 boxes from one Anglo Spanish long liner Ayr Queen who has recently returned to Scotland after annual holidays. The Scottish fleet has been conspicuous in its absence due largely to the west coast monkfish quota being exhausted for the year.
Shellfish landings/effort has also reduced with the displaced North Sea fleet retuning home after a long summer cleaning up the Minches of prawns. The offshore crabbers continue to land weekly and the local fleet work away as ever.
The non-fishing sector was also fairly quiet with the civilian navy support vessels SMIT Cerne, Yare and Romney day running and the fishfarm landing craft Ossian in for equipment.
Ferry Infrastructure is more or less complete. The storage units were handed over last week and only minor snagging is outstanding. The ice plant has already undergone a major external refurbishment and now the interior workings and delivery system is going to be modernised. The ammonia pipework will be replaced throughout and a new delivery system installed including new conveyors. The plant will be unable to make ice from 23rd October onwards; a 40Tonne stock of ice will be available which should be sufficient to cover demand during these essential works.
Tall Ships
The Tecla, Wylde Swan and Statsraad Lehmkuhl have all confirmed for 2016; see itineraries and booking details below. For further information and prices, please visit the ships’ website or speak with the contact names provided below. We’ve already had a number of enquiries from interested sailors and anticipate a very strong uptake again next summer.
Tecla Website www.tecla.nl; Contact info@tecla.nl
11th Apr – 24th Apr (14 days) Amsterdam – Oban (Caledonian Canal)
25th Apr – 1st May (7 days) Oban – Ullapool
1st May 1200hrs – 1800hrs Day-sail from Ullapool
2nd May – 9th May (8 days) St Kilda
10th May – 16th May (7 days) St Kilda
17th May – 7th Jun (22 days) Ullapool – Iceland
Wylde Swan Website www.wyldeswan.com; Contact leoni@wyldeswan.eu
10th May – 14th May (5 days) Hamburg – Ullapool
15th May – 19th May (5 days) Ullapool – Oban*
20th May – 26th May (7 days) *Oban – Ullapool
28th May – 31st May (4 days) St Kilda
1st Jun – 4th Jun (4 days) St Kilda
7th Jun – 10th Jun (4 days) St Kilda
11th Jun – 15th Jun (5 days) Ullapool – Aalborg
*A coach will be organised to collect passengers from Oban and return them to Ullapool and collect passengers from Ullapool and take them to the ship in Oban.
Harbour Calendar
The 2016 Harbour Calendar is published and is for sale in many of our local outlets and here in the harbour office. Another set of quality local images has been assembled for your viewing pleasure and it will make a great gift for anybody you love at Christmas. As you know by now, all profits go directly to the our Sail Trainee fund which helps finance local high school students participate in sail training adventures. As ever, we are indebted to you for your support of this tremendous cause.