Pupils' skiff set for sea
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A BOAT which pupils helped to build will be piped out for its sea launch at Cullen Sea School this month.
The Wemyss Skiff is the latest to be built at Cullen Sea School with the help of Buckie pupils. It will be named at the sea school on June 19 and, as is tradition, the skiff will be piped from the sea school to be launched at the slipway at Cullen Harbour.
Cullen Sea School has been developing, in conjunction with Buckie High School and Moray College UHI, an SQA accredited woodworking course designed to help preserve fast disappearing traditional boat-building skills.
Ashley Mowatt, Three Harbours Association chairman, said: "Part of the development has seen a series of weekly classes run at the sea school with the attendance of four students from Buckie High School.
"The boat-building project has been led by retired shipwrights Bert Reid, from Portknockie, Willie Henderson, from Cullen, and Bill Dunbar, formerly of Cullen, now Garmouth, who started his apprenticeship at the Cullen Boat Yard which was destroyed in the 1953 hurricane. We are fortunate to have this cross-community support.
"It is heartening that we already have several young Buckie High School volunteers, who never miss a boat-building session."
The new skiff will be named and launched on Wednesday, June 19, at 2pm at Cullen Sea School. All are welcome to attend.
Meanwhile, Cullen Sea School will welcome back the King’s Swimmers this summer as part of their Open Water Swimming Scotland Swim Camp.
The swimmers first visited the Banffshire coast last year and are returning to use Cullen Sea School and Cullen Bay as a training base between June 15-27.
The King’s Swimmers aim to inspire and coach a new generation of long-distance swimmers. The group is led by Kevin Murphy, who has swum the English Channel an incredible 34 times, and Kathy Batts. They are serious international endurance swimmers and many have swum in locations such as Sydney Harbour, San Francisco Bay, around Manhattan, and the North Channel. They swim without wetsuits and no goose fat for warmth.
It is hoped this visit will become an annual event to raise the profile of Cullen Sea School – and Cullen itself as a destination for outdoor activities and watersports.
