It’s official – we are afloat! The last weekend of May marked the culmination of a 6-year effort to get our skiff “Irene” onto the water. We spent Saturday on the high street and around town showing her off, adorned in flags. The boat attracted quite a lot of attention, and we managed to recruit a few new members!
The official launch was on Sunday. “Irene” was formally christened by her namesake, to whom we are eternally grateful for providing us with our build space. (Not to mention keeping us well-supplied with scones throughout our enterprise!)
Also in attendance was Jim (a local boatbuilder without whom the boat wouldn’t have been finished), and contingents from a number of local rowing clubs. North Queensferry, South Queensferry, Anstruther and St Andrews all brought their own skiffs to escort us to our new berth.
After a parade around the bay…
…and a salute from Anstruther…
…we rowed in company from the slipway to Burntisland Sailing Club for some well-deserved refreshments!
It’s fair to say that this road has been much longer than any of us could have anticipated. The COVID pandemic very nearly derailed our project and it took us a long time to regain momentum. Now that we’re actually ‘afloat’ (pun intended), we hope to attract new members – so if you’re interested in joining our community, please get in touch!
Report by Finlay Robertson
All photos by Cat Morley / Sidetrack
