Sharing some photos taken by Bob Kerr who assists Lerwick Lifeboat Station with their social media listings and news. We were invited to assist Lerwick Lifeboat with a towing exercise on the evening of Thursday 14th April and it was our pleasure as always. This training exercise provided valuable experience for all crew, allowing them to practice important skills such as safely attaching tow lines, taking a boat under tow and manoeuvring a boat without power alongside a safe berth in the harbour .
Come July it will be two years since Lerwick lifeboat crew members celebrated the 90th anniversary of the station’s first lifeboat ‘The Lady Jane & Martha Ryland’. The 51ft ‘Barnett-class’ lifeboat was named by the Duchess of Montrose in June 1932 as a crowd of over 2,000 people looked on. With two 60-horsepower petrol engines, and a top-speed of just under nine knots, the Barnett-class was the most powerful RNLI lifeboat in production at the time.
The above named lifeboat was then replaced with another Barnett-class lifeboat (Mk II) – ‘The Claude Cecil Staniforth’, which arrived in Lerwick in 1958 and remained in service for 20 years until 1978. This was then replaced with Arun-class lifeboat ‘Soldian’ which serviced from 1978 until 1997, when the current Severn-class ‘Michael and Jane Vernon’ took up service.
The current 17-metre (56 feet) all-weather lifeboat is the largest and most powerful in the RNLI’s fleet, with two “MTU” engines that produce up to 1600 horsepower, a top speed of 25 knots and a range of 250 nautical miles.
Over the years, the many coxwain’s and volunteer crews of Lerwick Lifeboat have been decorated for several extraordinary rescue operations, they have won many awards for their outstanding bravery, saving over 800 lives. Their service has been recognised with 62 RNLI Gallantry Awards.
The RNLI is a charitable organisation and with water all around our islands, they need all the support they can get. The Lerwick Lifeboat Station has a shop which can be accessed via Commercial Street. You can pick up the perfect gift or souvenir, they have homewares, clothing, tasty treats, toys, greeting cards and much much more. The shop is run by volunteers, and all profits help save lives at sea.
#RNLI #savinglivesatsea #respectthewater #lerwicklifeboat
As the No.1 wildlife boat tour to Noss, we are thrilled to have received accreditation to The WiSe Scheme – the UK’s national training scheme for minimizing disturbance to marine wildlife.
As WiSe members we commit to abide by not only national and local laws on wildlife conservation and disturbance avoidance, but also the WiSe Codes of Conduct.
A few examples of our responsibilities, include slowing down to a speed of 6 knots or less when approaching cetaceans a kilometre away, limiting our encounter time with cetaceans to a maximum of 15 minutes and approaching cetaceans in a pre-determined and responsible manner.
WiSe is not an award as such – it involves attending an online course during March and over a couple of evenings to gain accreditation. We thoroughly enjoyed it, wholeheartedly recommend it and urge all other marine wildlife tour operators to do the same – more information at www.wisescheme.org
Celebrate Scotland’s Year of Stories & Seabirds-and-Seals 30th Birthday Celebrations by entering our short story COMPETITION!
The competition is open to both adults and children (15 years and under) who have visited and explored Noss National Nature Reserve – on foot or by boat.
We invite you to write a short story about your adventure and potentially WIN some amazing prizes…See further below.
Please send your story (max 2,000 words) along with any pictures you wish to share, via email to: info@seabirds-and-seals.com before 24th April 2022.
Good Luck!
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Winning Stories By Adults
1st Prize:
Seabirds-and-Seals Noss Boat Gift Voucher For 2.
(This could be for 2 adults or 1 adult & 1 under 16 – winner chooses.
2nd Prize:
£50 Fjara Cafe Bar Gift Voucher – Kindly donated by Fjarå Cafe Bar
3rd Prize:
Signed Copy of ‘Seabirds and Seals’ written by founder of the business – Dr Jonathan Wills.
Winning Stories By Children (Aged 15rs and under)
Age 5-7:
Free Trip Aboard Seabirds-and-Seals Noss Boat With Accompanying Adult
Age 8-11:
Free Trip Aboard Seabirds-and-Seals Noss Boat With Accompanying Adult
Age 12-15:
Free Trip Aboard Seabirds-and-Seals Noss Boat With Accompanying Adult
Seabirds and Seals believe that EVERYONE should have the opportunity to experience the joy of wildlife in their daily lives – but we know that not everyone has equal access to nature. For that reason, we have made travel on our boat ‘Seabird’ as accessible and inclusive as we possibly can – from design stage to the moment you come aboard. ‘Seabird’ is the only Noss tour boat that is wheelchair-accessible and to ensure opportunities remain as equal for visitors as they do for locals, we have teamed up with the amazing local charity Ability Shetland who said:
“Ability Shetland are delighted to be working together with Seabirds and Seals to ensure less able people have access to their award-winning boat trips around Bressay and Noss.
We are supporting the company by providing wheelchairs to ensure passengers that require them, can get aboard safely and be comfortable during their trip.
We are so pleased that Seabirds and Seals approached us to see where we could help to ensure that less able people are included in all activities, including those available to visitors to our islands – and also people within our own community too”.
Our guests are the most important aspect of our business and we want to ensure differences are valued and that everyone can be themselves and flourish. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions you might have.
HIP-HIP-HOORAY… THE AWARDS KEEP COMING!!!
WE HAVE BEEN VOTED: SCOTLAND’S BEST WILDLIFE BOAT TOUR COMPANY!!!
It has been an incredibly busy few months for us, with holidays and preparing for a busy season ahead, but now time to announce our great news. The judging panel at SME Scottish Enterprise Awards, got in touch to inform us that we have been awarded winners of ‘Scotland’s Best Wildlife Boat Tour Compay’ as shown clearly in our winning logo. We are both proud to be keeping up the many awards Seabirds-and-Seals has historically received.
Thank you to all our customers and business associates for making us well and truly the Number One boat tour to Noss as ranked on TripAdvisor. Seabirds and Seals goes from strength to strength having been founded nearly 30 years ago back in 1992. The support we have received since we took over the business back in 2017 has been incredible and we cannot wait to get back out on our Catamaran ‘Seabird’ to share our love of Noss with you – oh and there’s a 30th birthday party to enjoy too.
Given the incredible calibre of wildlife boat tour (and indeed land-based!) operators the length and breadth of Scotland, accepting this award is incredibly humbling for us. We would like to pay testament to how well the adventure and wildlife tourism sector across Scotland has coped with the pandemic, and how it has brought so many businesses together, to help each other. and share their common goals for the benefit of customers.
From the bottom of our hearts, thanks everyone!
Marie & Brian