Beautiful article in today's Groat about Bothy Night

A great looking double page spread in today's Groat about Bothy Night--lots of great photos.
See below

Work day tomorrow and additional time slots available during the week for help cleaning the slipway. Not quite as much fin as bothy night, but you can whistle while you work!

JUNE WORK DAY SATURDAY 11th 10 an

WORKDAY SATURDAY 11th JUNE 10 am.- noon

Next workday coming Saturday.  There will be a a number of tidying  jobs, grass cutting around the seats,  rubbish collection  etc  please  bring implements - strimmers etc.
The main job will be cleaning the slipway.

See you there
George.

We are hiring a pressure washer from Thursday for a week so we are looking for volunteers to give a couple of hrs so that we completely clear the slipway.   Give Dave Glass or Mick O'Donnell a ring

The results will be used as part of an assessment as to how best to keep the slipway clean and what size of pressure washer will match our requirements.  

BOTHY NIGHT A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS

Bothy Night 2016 was a wonderful event, Fantastic Music, Poetry, Comedy, & song.

A magical location on a beautiful calm & sunny summer. evening.

Over 70 folk enjoyed the entertainment, company & refreshments.

As we finally cleared the venue, a pair of porpoise came into the bay frolicked around and leap't completely out of the water, What a an amazing end to a fantastic evening.
More pictures to follow

Work Day to Prepare for Bothy Night

Sunny bit coolish--moving stones, clearing the slipway with the strimmer, cleaning seats. And, thank heavens, Carol brought tea and coffee and bickies!

It's looking good for Bothy Night--May 28th. Music starting as early as 5pm. And on into the evening. Kleyne Klezmer and local musicians, too.

We got some funding but donations of food for sharing on the evening as well as a wee thanks in the kitty on the evening will help. Thank you! Come and enjoy the evening.  Parking limited so walk or share rides. Someone will be at the top to drive folks down the slope for anyone wanting assistance.

BOTHY NIGHT

With music by

Kleyne Klezmer

From Edinburgh

Supported by local musicians

5pm onwards

Saturday 28th May

The Lighthouse Store Brough Bay

Free Admission

(There will be a donation box in aid of BBA)

Refreshments provided

Feel free to bring your own bottle
.

The event is funded from  the Spirit of Caithness
A Fourteen Community.
The Fund is Administered by Foundation Scotland

WORK DAY SATURDAY 14th MAY 10am to NOON

NEXT WORK DAY SATURDAY 14th MAY 10am to NOON

Please come along and help maintain the harbour.

Jobs to be done;-
Cleaning the slipway - mainly removing the seaweed with strimmers and any other implement;

Cleaning the chairs & tables in preparation for the Bothy Night on the 28th May.

Collecting rubbish from the shore.

Sanding and re treating the wooden seats

Weeding around the seats.

No doubt there will be other tasks on the day.

See you there

George.

BOTHY NIGHT

BOTHY NIGHT

With music by

Kleyne Klezmer

From Edinburgh

Supported by local musicians

5pm onwards

Saturday 28th May

The Lighthouse Store Brough Bay

Free Admission

(There will be a donation box in aid of BBA)

Refreshments provided

Feel free to bring your own bottle
.

The event is funded from  the Spirit of Caithness
A Fourteen Community.
The Fund is Administered by Foundation Scotland

Seven Stalwarts Kick off the First Work Day!

First workday of the year and our eyewtiness report (I was not there I confess..) is as follows:

The weather was awful. Seven people turned out. Cleared drains and refurbished half of the barrels.
Finished early!

First Work Day of the Season

Work Day 9th April 10.00 to 12.0. Come along and help or share stories. There are rocks to be picked up, planters to be painted, and other chores always come up--it's a lot like housework, never completely done.

And of course you can come along and enjoy the view with the new path and bench.

Thank you, Spirit of Caithness, Foundation Scotland

 We have just received word that we have been awarded a grant from Spirit of Caithness for our music evening at Brough Bay May 28th. Thanks to their funding we are able to expand on the successful evening we had last year in the bothy.

Please save the date--May 28th--to hear the Kleyne Klezmer trio and local musicians. Part of our proposal included community contributions, so please bring along some food or drink to share and put a donation in the kitty on the evening if you can.

We'll have more information closer to time, but wnated to share the good news with everyone right away.

'

 

 

Funded from the Spirit of Caithness – A Fourteen Community.

The Fund is administered by Foundation Scotland’

Back to Brough (without a rake this time)

I enjoyed the experiment in cleaning the slipway as Mick noted in last blog post. As a girl from the prairies anything to do with the sea is an adventure for me.

I came to the harbour today along with two other committee members (the knowledgeable ones) who were meeting with the engineer from Glasgow who may be doing some work for the slipway and bothy and possible parking area. There is a lot of work involved in keeping this wonderful asset in good nick and available to the community.

The tide was well out, the water slack so it looked like glass.  The sun came out as the engineer and her friend arrived. The air smelled of the sea and the birds settling into their nesting sites were making quite a clatter. It was a bonny site and the friend from Glasgow was astonished to see how beautiful it is. The beauty is not visible from the road so it was a nice surprise. She got to walk along the new path down to the beach. And after we left, a mother seal and her pup came out to sun themselves. We know how beautiful it is, but it is nice to rediscover it through the eyes of a newcomer.

Planting at the harbour

We are looking for wooden fish boxes for planters at the harbour- non forth coming

But Dave collected 12 half barrel tubs from Auckengill this morning.

Not fish boxes but they are wood and they are Good.

A little TLC and some green fingers needed.

Any volunteers ?

 

 

 

 

 

How to clean a slipway ??????

Slipway cleaning is always a problem, so today 4 hardy volunteers set out to evaluate different methods of removing seaweed and moss.

 

Dave on the power washer

Sharon on the Rake

George on the strimmer

Mick on the scythe.

 

A very successful trial and Mick even took home the seaweed for the garden

 

New Board members appointed at the AGM

Brough Bay AGM Monday 7th March.

We had a very good turnout at the 2016 AGM, thanks to all who came along.
The proposed change to the Articles of Association to increase the maximum number of Board members from 8 to 10 was passed unanimously.

A new board was elected which consisted of al the retiring members plus new members;-

David Kinghorn & Susanne Lloyd-Jones.

Welcome to you both.

 

The board members for 2016 are

George Douglas, Carol Breckenridge. Alison Hay, David Kinghorn.  David Glass,

Sharon Gunason, Tom Sayles, Moira Land, Susanne Lloyd-Jones, Mick O'Donnell.

Rig 'Safe Boreas' in the Firth from Brough Bay

  Rig Safe Boreas in the Firth from Brough Bay

The vessel is named after Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind and the bringer of cold winter air.
It is an Accommodation vessel which will accommodate 450 in single rooms.

Name:	Safe Boreas
MMSI:	565905000 [SG]
IMO:	9649823
Callsign:	9V9903
Speed/Dir:	0.5 kts / 343° NNW
Status:	Restr. Manoeuvre
Dest:	Weat of Swona (Dp Tr
ETA:	Mar05 11:00
Type:	Other (90)
Size:	91m x 77m x 15.1m
Received:	13:16:12 06 Mar 16 GMT

http://www.prosafe.com/safe-boreas/category986.html
http://www.prosafe.com/getfile.php/Rig%20sheets%20and%20fleet%20list/Safe%20Boreas.pdf

Brough Bay's New Path in the Moray Firth Partnership Newsletter

It's always nice to see good work celebrated, so check out the photo of us in their newsletter. It all helps to put Brough Bay into folks' minds. And to remind us of the success of community involvement.

http://www.morayfirth-partnership.org/810.html

WINTER VISITORS

Wigeon are small ducks which spend each Winter at Brough Bay. They spend the day resting on the sea and on the reef. At night they fly inland to feed.

Fulmars back on their nest sites a Brough Harbour

Photo by David Glass

The Fulmars are back on their nest sites at Brough Harbour although it will be a long time yet before they lay their eggs. They are often here in January but then go off to sea again before settling down to breed.

The Fulmar is one of our longest lived birds. They do not breed until they are 8 to 10 years old and it is believed that some individuals live to over 50!

Rainbow over Brough Bay.

Happy New Year to you All

Rainbow Over Brough Bay Taken by David Glass on Saturday 25th Jan 2016

. PATH OPENING A FANTASTIC SUCCESS

11am on Saturday 5th Dec saw the official opening of the New Brough Harbour Path Steps & seats.   

 

 John Thurso gave presentation then introduced the ribbon cutters, the youngest & oldest inhabitants of Brough.

Hanna Broughton aged 3, & Ella Coghill aged 89. 

Piper Cameron Halle  played as the 60+  guests arrived, then when the path was opened, led a procession to the seating area.

 

With the gorgeous refreshments provided  in the Lighthouse store, the musicians, Piper Cameron Halle, Joanne & Joe Kaar, Susanne & George, plus a tot of whisky provided by David Glass, it was no wonder that the guests lingered for a couple of hours.

 Brough Bay Association also wishes to thank local contractors who gave their services / materials at a significant discount, and in some cases free of charge. Anthony Eastwood;  Gordon Robertson; A & W Sinclair; Caithness Stone Industries; Subsea 7.

The construction was made possible because of the financial assistance from 'PATHS FOR ALL',

And the hard work of almost 30 volunteers who constructed the path, steps & installed the seats. 

 

Thanks also to John Thurso for giving the presentation, and also Moira Land who allowed us to use the Lighthouse store, and all those who attended the opening and making it a great success. 

 

Here are a few pics by Keith Parkes - thanks Keith.  If you have any of the opening we would appreciate them.