North Mainland Notes 26.06.09

Busy times for Dunberry

Dunberry Marine, a local company which specialises in maritime works, is going from strength to strength and is about to launch a second workboat soon.

The company was formed in 2007 by brothers Chris and John-Henry Duncan of Ollaberry who launched their first vessel, Northern Falcon, in September 2008. The vessel was built by Neptune Marine Services in the Netherlands and is a Euro-carrier model 2209 with twin caterpillar C18 main engines with John Deere auxiliaries and a 140t/m Heila crane.

Dunberry Marine specialises in anchor handling, barge handling, towage, transporting of equipment, fuel and water transfer and survey work. The company also provides support services to projects such as pipe installation, harbour construction, bottom levelling, dredging and renewables programmes.

The Shetland crew aboard the Northern Falcon has been continually busy since the boat was launched, with a six months barge handling contract in the centre of Stockholm and further work on a Danish offshore wind project. Barge handling opportunities are prevalent world-wide and with the prospect of an increasing amount of contracts on the horizon, the company commissioned the build of a second boat. Much of the design of the new vessel will mirror that of the Northern Falcon, although Dunberry Marine has redesigned the wheelhouse and this revised layout will now be used on all future Neptune Euro-carriers.

The vessel is due to be launched in late July.

Mavis Grind Foy

The annual Mavis Grind Foy will take place on Sunday. The afternoon will begin with a daft raft race at 1pm followed by Sunday teas, local crafts, a barbeque and live music. Entries for the raft race should register with Ann Doull on (01806) 522284 and all entrants must wear lifejackets. Motorists are asked to park in the parking areas at Mavis Grind and keep the area near the Virdins Quarry clear of cars.

Delting marina opens

The next few weeks will be a busy time for the committee and members of the Delting Boating Club and Marina Users Association. Drew Ratter will officially open the Delting marina tomorrow and next weekend the 80th Annual Regatta will take place at the club.

The official opening of the marina, which will take place at 2pm, has been long awaited as it is now more than two years since the berths were first occupied. The marina users committee decided to wait until the access road, car and caravan parks and boat storage areas were all complete before going ahead with an official launch.

Proceedings will kick off at 1pm on Saturday with a flotilla of boats led by the Aith Lifeboat. After Drew has performed the opening ceremony there will be an afternoon and evening of entertainment suited to all ages and tastes. As well as all the maritime attractions, and hopefully a fly past by Oscar Charlie, the new boat storage area in front of the clubhouse will provide the venue for a host of attractions. Lowrie Johnson and his willing band of helpers will be providing some succulent barbecued food and May and Mackie will be performing in the beer tent. A second marquee, the “Spreckel Tent”, will house a wide range of attractions including stalls, sideshows, competitions and face painting. Tickets will also be on sale for a grand raffle which will be drawn the following Saturday at the Brae Regatta. The evening will be rounded off in the clubhouse with a Filskit Disco.

A number of caravanners have already made use of the new facilities and the club has received some very positive feedback from the visitors who were especially attracted to the setting alongside the marina and the club and by the range of activities such as junior sailing instruction, windsurfing, diving, yachting and fishing. A few caravan pitches are still available for this weekend and next and Joe Irvine is taking bookings on (01806) 522418.

The 80th Annual Regatta begins at the boating club on Wednesday night with the round Linga race for yachts. This year the club hope to better last year’s record entry of 17 yachts and the race begins at 7pm. Pico dinghy races begin at 7.30pm from the club. On Friday night yachts will take to the water again in a course race at 7pm with further yacht racing on Saturday morning from 10am. There will be plenty of onshore entertainment on Saturday with the barbecue and the Spreckel tent being given another airing. The Corbies take to the stage at 9pm to finish off a packed day of activity with live music. Sunday sailing starts at 1.45pm with dinghy races followed by a mirror race at 2pm and the dipping lug at 2.15pm.

The regatta will finish with a barbeque and prize giving in the club house on Sunday night. Members and guests will be made most welcome at all the events over the next couple of weeks.

Family fun at Voxter

The Brae Church of Scotland is holding a family fun day at Voxter tomorrow from 10am-4pm. Everyone will be encouraged to take part in a range of activities during the day that will include kite flying, games, a treasure hunt and woodland adventures. Folk are welcome to drop in at any time during the day.

IT problems at Brae Medical Practice

The Brae Medical Practice would like to apologise to anyone who has recently used the repeat prescription email service without success. The server which operates the email system has recently suffered a failure and staff at Brae along with IT technicians have spent the past few days trying to get the system up and running again.

The email address covering the repeat prescription service needs to be changed as a result of the fault and staff will let folk know the new address as soon as the system is repaired. In the meantime folk are asked to phone with any repeat prescription requests.

TNT praise service

A growing number of 11-15 year olds in the North Mainland are part of a young, vibrant church group. Thursday Night Thing (TNT) meets on Thursday nights from 7-8.30pm during term time in the Brae Youth Centre and has seen an increasing number of members since the club began.

In conjunction with TNT, a youth praise service will be held in the Brae Church of Scotland on Sunday night at 7.30pm and everyone is invited to attend. Every aspect of the service including the content, delivery and music has been arranged by members of TNT and will include a number of contemporary arrangements.

Brae church teas and car boot

The Church of Scotland manse at Brae is currently vacant and in need of a number of repairs to bring the building up to modern standards of living. The Brae Church of Scotland is holding Sunday teas and a car boot sale in the Brae hall next Sunday to help raise money towards a manse repair fund. The event will be held from 2-5pm and anyone who would like to book a sales space can phone Isobel on (01806) 522230.

Sullom Songs of Praise

As part of the Good News Festival the Church of Scotland is holding a Songs of Praise evening in the Sullom hall at 7.30pm next Friday. The evening will include a varied programme with music from Andrew Nicolson and Gillian Isbister, Loris MacDonald and the Northmavine Fiddle and Accordion Club.

Orgill open days

The Lunnasting History Group, which operates from the Orgill Family History Centre in Vidlin, is holding an open weekend tomorrow and Sunday from 2-5pm. The group has a vast collection of photos, and artefacts, as well as information about the area. They also hold lots of information which is useful for anyone interested in finding out more about genealogy and their own family history. During past open days visitors have been pleasantly surprised to find previously unseen photos of family members and organisers hope that once again folk will uncover family gems. The photo collection also houses a large number of school photographs reaching back to the early 20th Century. The centre is situated near the Gillside houses in Vidlin.

Vidlin farmers’ market

Following on from the success of the first farmers’ market in Vidlin, organisers are holding a second in the Vidlin hall next Saturday from 10-2pm. A wide variety of local produce and crafts will be on sale as well as teas, coffees, rolls and plenty of home bakes. If anyone wants to book a table, they should phone Arlene on (01806) 577235. The final market of the summer will be held in the hall on Saturday 29th August.

Urafirth Toddle

Urafirth nursery and Northmavine under fives gathered at Urafirth Primary school for their annual sponsored toddle. Babies, toddlers, nursery bairns, mams and one dad toddled around the cycle track to help raise funds for each group and Barnados.

As it was such a fine day, the toddle was followed by a really enjoyable play session out on the grass pitch with Fraser Cluness and the playvan where bairns were able to crawl through tunnels, jump in the soft play area and generally let off steam. The day ended with a picnic in the school grounds and a presentation of certificates and medals to all the bairns. The toddle raised a large amount of money and staff would like to thank everyone who took part, especially the bairns.

Maree Hay