Seahouses Tidal Surge

Yep you guessed it, the tidal surge happened on Friday 13th and you wonder why boating people are very superstitious. My dad was really bad, but once you start talking to other fisherman you realise he was not a bad as I first thought.
When he was a fisherman you were not allowed to lots of things. For example you were not allowed to whistle as you were whistling for the wind. Remember "Swan Vesta" matches well for some reason they were not allowed on the boat but please don't ask me why as I don't have a clue.

Some things he was superstitious about rubbed of on me and Friday13th was on of them. I'm just very wary of the date and I still go to sea but I'm just a little bit more careful in everything I do. My dad never went to sea on the 13th when he was a trawler fisherman and he never ever said 13 either. It was always 12 plus 1 or bakers dozen. My brother sometimes says the same and he's a lot more superstitious than me. I only have a couple of things that worry me and that's the Friday 13th and I always go forward with my boat at the start of the day even if it's really tight to another boat and the reason I do this is because if I go backwards I will be going backwards all day. Silly, I know but that's not bad for a boating person.

Never mind I'm getting away from what I was supposed to be blogging about.

On Friday 13th we had a storm surge down the east coast and it tends to start around our area and then head down the coast. This is just a combination of big tides, strong winds, wrong direction and a low laying coastline.

We are lucky compared to other parts of the coast but it still gets your heart pumping.

My major concern is our boats on the pier and you will see what I mean from the pictures further in the blog.
When the waves come over the pier they are so powerful that they can knock out the chocks of wood from under the boat. If they knocked them all out the boat would just fall over and do a lot of damage which is not good at all. Luckily only a few were knocked out and I was able to put them back in until it was all over. Some other people were putting their chocks back in then another wave would come over and knock them back out again.
Until the tide starts to goes out, this is all you can do and hopefully everything will be ok after the storm passes. Thankfully everything was ok and all the boats were safe and sound.

Then next day you can see all the rubbish everywhere and the beach was covered in wood, seaweed, plastic and of course the dunes were sliced apart from the waves. I know mother nature can be cruel and I know the dunes will recover in time but its not nice to see and at least we have not had any major problems to worry about.

Thank you taking time to read this blog and if you have any questions at all please just ask.

Out with the old and in with the new

As you may remember in a previous post I told you about Serenity being sold to the south coast, well we have decided to sell Sovereign II aswell. She was our late fathers boat and we did not want to sell her due to sentimental reasons but that really did not make sense so we have decided to let her go. It breaks our hearts but it's for the best and we have to move with the times too.
So on that note we could not help ourselves and she was to good to turn down so we have added another vessel to our fleet.
She is a yellow catamaran the same as Mara Mhor and she will be used for passengers as well as divers.
She is a little bit different to as she has a little bit extra built onto the back on the wheelhouse which will be great for passengers and divers as you can get shelter out of the wind but still be able to see what's happening around you.
She also is equipped with a toilet and storage too. We have a little bit of work to do to her but it's more tlc than anything.
We have to fit dive lift onto her stern but that's the only real major job to do and fingers crossed she is ready to go.

It was amazing how these guys handled the vessels on the roads but I suppose they are used to it and never batter an eye lid. Anyway she arrived safe and sound and now she sits on the habour pier waiting for the season to start.

Dirty Jobs

During the off season we need to do a lot of work on the boats but this year it is a little bit different to other years, as we have two new engines to go into Serenity II.

Yes it's a bit of a ouch moment as they cost a few bob but she really needs it. If it was the engine in your car, you would have sold it a long time ago. Both engines have about 500,000 miles on them, so you can understand why we want to replace them.
The old engines are in good working order but we are going to get them over hauled and put on the bench just in case the worst thing happens and at least we have a engine to put in. It makes sense really as the last thing we want is to be tied up during the season because on of the engines have broken down, so if we have one or two on the shelf ready to go then we should be ok.

Serenity II and Mara Mhor (our diving boat) really need some tlc too so its about time we gave them some loving and boy did they need it.

So over the last month or so its been all hands on deck cleaning, scrubbing, polishing and now its time for a little holiday. Well the boats are getting a break so we have decided to have one too.

Don't worry I will be updating the blog over the next few weeks.

In the meantime here are some pictures of all the hard work we have been doing lately. 

    

Inner Farne Lighthouse

The Inner Farne Lighthouse is finally getting painted and boy it looks lush too.
Its been a long time and the National Trust lads have been going over everyday to sort it all out and it looks just perfect now.
The shine on her as you pass looks great and lets hope it stays this way because its something to be proud of.

Good Bye "Serenity"

It's never nice to see a boat leave but the time has come and Serenity is on her way to a new home.

She has been a brilliant boat for us and hardly let us down and if it was not for her we would not be were we are today.
She was our first boat that we did tours around the islands and the one that brought my brother and myself closer. (Not that we weren't anyway) So thank you.

On Monday she was taken by a wide load wagon by road to her new home in Cornwall where she will be operating as a passenger vessel doing the same thing down there as she was up her.

As you might already know that we have slowly changed our vessels to catamarans as we think they are more stable in the water and I suppose we are just moving with the times. On a personal note, they are really easy to handle, better for the environment (less fuel) and the biggest thing of all is..... No painting. Whoop Whoop.
Well we have to paint the bottom of the hulls, but that's only a few days work which is much better than standing on the pier in the freezing cold trying to hold a paint brush while the waves are crashing over the pier and Yes, we will still have to do jobs on the boats, but the difference this time is if its cold, damp and bitter we can turn around and go home as I know I don't have to paint the boats ready for the season.

Anyway, from everyone at Serenity I would like to say "Thank you" for being a loyal servant to us.

       

Greenland Shark Update

For those who have not read about the Greenland Shark we saw a few years ago click on the Greenland Shark link before you read about the update. Greenland Shark 

I have just been sent a link to let me know a few things about the shark and what the do at the Natural History Museum.  rare-greenland-shark-specimen-preserved-at-museum 

It is also going to feature on River Monsters the award winning Channel 4 program. I will let you know details when this will be aired next year. 

 

Newborn Seal Pups

The grey seal pups are starting to arrive in abundance now, and at the last count their was 526
but over the last four days we have had dreadful seas with big waves and we have not been able to get out so fingers crossed the seals and their pups have managed to survive this weather.

I suppose its nature and over the last few years the seals have had it good and the numbers have increased a lot.

The rangers have started their counts and when you look at the rocks its all multi colored now. We also have spotted some new born pups with their umbilical cords still on.

 We also spotted a branded seal with a large V branded on her back. They stopped branding in 1995 but I'm not sure how old this one is but I will find out in due course.

We saw young born pups calling for their mothers as they were really hungry and others who had fallen into the water and their mothers were encouraging them to get out. We saw a young pup enjoying her mothers milk and other so tired it was not bothered where it slept.
We even saw the start of new life being created.

Over all my fingers and toes are crossed that all is well out on the Farnes and all the seal pups are doing just fine.