For our last day in Scotland, I’d booked us tickets to the Traditional Scottish Wooden Boat Show in Portsoy, Scotland; it seemed like the perfect event for my Dad. When we arrived it was cold and rainy, and since we were on the coast, there was a cold wind blowing in off the North Sea. The weather really diminished our enthusiasm, but the festival looked like it would have been a lot of fun if it wasn’t so cold and rainy. There was an outdoor stage were a group was singing sea shanties, but I couldn’t bring myself to sit in a wet chair in the rain to listen to them.
The weather was apparently part of a much larger storm and a lot of the boats were setting sail to try to avoid it. The show was supposed to last until 7pm that evening, but when we arrived at noon, only 2 large boats remained, and they shipped off within the hour. These departures were actually the most interesting part of the festival. The ships were traditional crafts, so the crew used traditional methods to exit the 300 year old harbor—no outboard motors.
To exit, two lines (nautical speak for rope) were connected to 2 “tie up thingies” (also a nautical term*). The whole crew would pull on the first line to pull the ship away from the harbor wall, and then they would start pulling on the second line to turn and exit out to sea.
The first boat was manned by an experienced crew and they managed a beautiful exit. Some of the men were old and just standing around though; one young guy in yellow pants appeared to be doing the brunt of the work, but he was clearly capable of working alone.
The second ship was crewed by a bunch of newbies, unused to working together as a team. It took them much longer to exit the harbor and their departure wasn’t nearly as smooth. With a few months at sea, they’ll be able to manage turns better in the future.
After the big ships left, there wasn’t too much else going on. There were smaller boats and even some dinghies, but their captains weren’t around for chatting. We also visited some of the shops, but my Dad is full up on lines and buoys, so we didn’t buy anything. My Mom and I did visit a bead shop where a woman was selling beads out of her motor home. There is a bead store in Regensburg where I get my beads so I was all set. I also wasn’t thrilled that her crystals came from China and were priced higher than the genuine Swarovski crystals I’d been buying. But I guess that’s what happens when you aren’t next door to Austria.
*Thanks to Google, I’ve learned the proper term for the “tie up thingies”. It's bollard.
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| Yellow Pants doing most of the Work Portsoy, Scotland |
The weather was apparently part of a much larger storm and a lot of the boats were setting sail to try to avoid it. The show was supposed to last until 7pm that evening, but when we arrived at noon, only 2 large boats remained, and they shipped off within the hour. These departures were actually the most interesting part of the festival. The ships were traditional crafts, so the crew used traditional methods to exit the 300 year old harbor—no outboard motors.
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| Safely exiting the harbour Portsoy, Scotland |
The first boat was manned by an experienced crew and they managed a beautiful exit. Some of the men were old and just standing around though; one young guy in yellow pants appeared to be doing the brunt of the work, but he was clearly capable of working alone.
 |
| Notice the rope they're tugging on Portsoy, Scotland |
The second ship was crewed by a bunch of newbies, unused to working together as a team. It took them much longer to exit the harbor and their departure wasn’t nearly as smooth. With a few months at sea, they’ll be able to manage turns better in the future.
After the big ships left, there wasn’t too much else going on. There were smaller boats and even some dinghies, but their captains weren’t around for chatting. We also visited some of the shops, but my Dad is full up on lines and buoys, so we didn’t buy anything. My Mom and I did visit a bead shop where a woman was selling beads out of her motor home. There is a bead store in Regensburg where I get my beads so I was all set. I also wasn’t thrilled that her crystals came from China and were priced higher than the genuine Swarovski crystals I’d been buying. But I guess that’s what happens when you aren’t next door to Austria.
*Thanks to Google, I’ve learned the proper term for the “tie up thingies”. It's bollard.
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