Swan’s cygnet
Stephen Gordon
Shetland’s iconic restored Fifie sailing boat, the Swan has been reunited with her former tender boat after many years.
The inflatable used by the Swan at the moment is playfully known as the Cygnet, there is no name for the original wooden tender as of yet.
At an informal ceremony last night, a crowd gathered to see six trainees rowed out from Hay’s Dock to join the Swan which was lying off ready for a trip round to Scalloway.
The 12 foot boat with a transom stern – “Dat maks her pretty unique!” said Brian Wishart of the Swan Trust – was made by renowned boat builder John Bruce of Skaw, Whalsay, with the help of Sammy Bruce.
It was constructed as a Board of Trade requirement as the Swan returned to the fishing at the end of the Second World War.
Not used much in the boating practical sense, it was however used for storing tatties.
The white boat which was acquired by John Philips when the Swan left Shetland for a number of years, has recently been restored by Robbie Tait and Jack Duncan of the Shetland Amenity Trust with help by volunteers of the Swan Trust.
Speaking today Brian Wishart said it was rather fitting that the boat was launched from the slip at Hay’s Dock where the original Swan had been launched 115 years ago.
The boat can be seen up on the beach at Hay’s Dock.
More in next week’s Shetland Times
