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Archer's
Grand Plan
ONE person who won't have time to sit back and enjoy the Cutty
Sark spectacle is Lerwick Port Authority Harbourmaster Captain
Archer Kemp. He'll be too busy making sure everything in the
port runs smoothly, from the berthing of the first tall ship
to the final waves from the fleet as they head off to Aalborg."It's
a bit like sitting for an exam. You know the date, but when its
three years off you can miss the odd weekend. The closer it gets
the more intense the studying is," he said. "But if
you haven't done the planning, you pay the price."
Archer's already hectic workload will step up a gear on June
1st, which is the closing date for ships entering the race. Then,
he said, the nightmare will begin.
The ships all have their own peculiarities which have to be acknowledged
when berthing arrangements are made. Some have gangways only
on one side, others, need to be at specific sites - the "Swan
Fan Makkum", for example, has to be near the main race sponsors
Cutty Sark Scots Whisky, who use her for entertaining.
The harbourmaster is to go to Greenock on August 1st to give
a briefing to the captains of the fleet. "Hopefully I will
be able to give them a lot of details and tell them who I would
like to arrive first," he said. "After that I can put
some meat on the harbour plan."
The fleet will be spread out along various quays, with a good
mix at all sites of the biggest A class ships and the smaller
vessels. They will be concentrated in the southern half of the
harbour, while normal shipping, including fishing boats, will
go to the northern part.
In developing his Grand Plan for berthing, Archer also has to
take into account the needs of boats like the Lerwick Lifeboat.
This means keeping the Bressay slip, at Victoria Pier, clear
just in case the lifeboat team has to land any injured people.
There will also need to be access for press boats and the sea
taxis which will operate between the two event sites at Victoria
Pier and Holmsgarth (see page 14). In the midst of all the action
will be a visit by the cruise liner "Crystal Symphony",
which is registered in the Bahamas. The ship, a regular caller
to Lerwick, will land her passengers on a special pontoon at
Alexandra Wharf rather than the more usual Victoria Pier.
"There will be around 110 ships in port, which we would
look forward to every day in life. Berthing ships and handling
ships is our job and we think we are good at it," Archer
said "but 20,000 people on the piers - we're not used to
that."
The biggest problem Archer anticipates is children who have lost
their parents - and a large bill for pacifying sweeties.
He said he had spoken to one police officer who, in the course
of a day's duty at the tall ships in Aberdeen, had bought 32
ice-lollies. Archer, however, will be lucky if he has a moment
to glance up at the spectacular fleet of ships, let alone stand
around eating sweets.
"I am a great lover of all kinds of ships, so I do like
to look at them. But there won't be time for me to step back
and admire them, it will just be done on the hoof."
Parade
of sail
THE sight of 100 of the world's most magnificent
ships sailing out of Lerwick Harbour and over the eastern horizon
is the kind of image which will stay in people's memories for
many years to come.
The Parade of Sail will start at 11am on Thursday 12th August.
For the next few hours spectators will be able to watch as the
vessels prepare themselves for the final leg of the 1999 race
series. Anyone with a boat is invited to take to the water too,
to wave off the fleet. The harbour will be operating a strict
traffic system, with spectator boats being urged to keep to a
channel along the mainland, and routine traffic moving in and
out along the Bressay side.
The tall ships will move off into the open sea where they will
'reach and reach', or sail back and fore, awaiting their turn
to be off.
The start line for the race to Aalborg will be 1.5 miles long
and will be marked by two ships - the Northern Lighthouse Board
ship "Fingal" will be marking one end, with a vessel
from the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency at the other. A
system of flags and maroons will be used to send the boats on
their way. The exact positioning of the start line will be dictated
by the wind direction on the day. The race will start at 4pm.
The ships will leave Lerwick in four groups, with 20 minutes
between each lot. Shetland's own tall ship "Swan" will
have the honour of leading the way, and it is hoped that the
Norwegian sail training ship "Statsraad Lehmkuhl" will
take up the rear as a gesture of her friendship with the isles
The MV Fingal was built in 1963 for the Northern Lighthouse Board.
The 72-metre-long ship, which is based in Stromness, works alongside
the MV Pharos. They are used by the board for the delivery of
supplies and stores, buoyworking and the statutory inspection
of the navigation aids on oil rigs. A regular visitor to Shetland,
Fingal will be marking one end of the start line for the race
from Lerwick to Aalborg.
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