MRI Coastal Notes 2007

Click on the headings to read the full Coastal Notes....

Coastal Notes 12 December 2007
Anyone involved in any kind of outdoor activity takes note of the weather forecast, whether they’re farmers, fishermen, leisure sailors, organisers of a charity garden party or commuters wondering if the trains will run on time.  Weather forecasts are readily available – they can even be texted to a mobile phone these days. 

Coastal Notes 27 November 2007
Browse a menu in an ordinary Portuguese restaurant and you’ll see a range and variety of fish on offer that far exceeds most high class eateries in this country. 

Coastal Notes 13 November 2007
What creature can weigh in at 600 pounds, yet pass that body through a pipe no wider than a 50p:  can change colour or texture to suit its environment: has three hearts: has blue blood: can taste with its arms: has no skeleton: has eight arms .....? 

Coastal Notes 31 October 2007
The most famous iceberg ever had to be the one that sank that Titanic in 1912. Icebergs have been described as rocks that happen to be made of ice; their ice has been formed under pressure just like the metamorphic rocks around Stonehaven .....

Coastal Notes 16 October 2007
Amongst the most enduring and sea worthy objects to set loose on the ocean are bottles; as long as they are well sealed they will survive hurricanes that would sink the largest ship and bob their way through the heaviest seas .....

Coastal Notes 25 September 2007
People are endlessly fascinated by sharks; they are frightening, mysterious, predatory and unpredictable. Not a lot is known about their life cycles; they don’t make the easiest of research animals.  The film ‘Jaws’ has left an indelible image of indiscriminate attack, huge teeth and terror .....

Coastal Notes 11 September 2007
Stonehaven has a variety of unique factors to interest both the casual visitor and the local resident.  Dunnottar Castle, the Open Air Swimming Pool and the Harbour area spring easily to mind.  The oldest fossil in the world was found here. while the Fireballs ceremony at Hogmanay has become world famous .....  

Coastal Notes 28 August 2007
The cold North Sea isn ’t the first place you would look to find ocean sunfish, yet last week a local man, taking his boat from Stonehaven to Findon, saw two of them.  One was swimming gently just about a quarter of a mile off Garron Point .....

Coastal Notes 14 August 2007
Stonehaven harbour was filled with evocative sights and sounds on Sunday at the MRI Harbour Festival.  The Viking longship sat so gracefully at the outer pier, looking quite at home in her new setting.   The sight and sound of a Pipe band in full array always sets hearts beating just that bit prouder.  Perhaps the most evocative though was a smell – the smell of Iain Spinks’ Arbroath Smokies in the making .....

Coastal Notes 29 July 2007
Helicopters are commonplace in this neck of the woods; we take them for granted in all sorts of ways. Getting to work on an oil rig, carrying out safety checks on electricity pylons, rescuing the victims of incidents on land or at sea, transporting troops in war zones – their uses are many and varied .....

Coastal Notes 17 July 2007
MRI’s Harbour Festival is only 3 weeks away now.  Sunday, August 12th is the date, 12 – 4.30 is the time.  But, things start to happen the day before.  The star attraction this year is the ‘Dim Riv’, a 40 foot replica Viking longship coming down from Lerwick ..... 

Coastal Notes 3 July 2007
Over the past months a team of researchers have been delving into the coastal heritage of this area.  It’s been a fascinating task, looking at the changes that have happened over the years ..... 

Coastal Notes 19 June 2007
Two weeks ago a team from MRI attended the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) conference in Gothenberg, Sweden, a town best known to most people in this part of the world as the scene of Aberdeen ’s European Cup triumph nearly 25 years ago .....

Coastal Notes 29 May 2007
What do the catspaw, square Turk’s head and the lark’s head have in common with Portuguese whipping, a fishermen’s bend and an icicle hitch?  .....

Coastal Notes 23 May 2007
Some of the reports on the recent fire damage to the ‘Cutty Sark’ at Greenwich in London give the impression that she is the last clipper left in the world..... but here in Scotland we have not only an older clipper, but also one that still holds speed records between London and Adelaide, Australia .....

Coastal Notes 1 May 2007
One stormy night in December 1807 a young cabinet maker from Helston near Plymouth stood with many others watching in helpless horror as over 120 men died less than 100 yards from shore at Lizard Point .....

Coastal Notes 18 April 2007
During the great storm that struck this coastline in 1848, 124 fishing boats were wrecked, much gear was lost or damaged and 100 men lost their lives between Wick and Johnshaven.  Many of these men died within sight of land or in some cases almost inside their harbour .....

Coastal Notes 3 April 2007
It was a normal quiet Tuesday night until 20.20hrs.  The peace was shattered by the insistent tones of the lifeboat pager. A call to HM Coastguard at Aberdeen confirmed that this for real; 2 people had fallen on the cliffs near Muchalls, and immediate assistance was required .....

Coastal Notes 20 March 2007
To a fisherman, all areas of the sea have names, just as a farmer will name his fields or we name our
streets. Small local boats might set out to fish the Heugh Hole or Shald Water; other fishermen would immediately know exactly where they were headed without the need for any further explanation .....

Coastal Notes 6 March 2007
Every time the Northlink ferry Hjaltland puts to sea, she becomes a weather station reporting directly to the Met Office via satellite.  She has an automatic weather station on board that records hourly data on sea level air pressure and temperature. This information fills a gap in the Met Office coverage of the North Sea .....

Coastal Notes 20 February 2007
Last week’s storms made for some spectacular seascapes as the waves rolled into the bay, crashing against the breakwater to the wonder of small boys and photographers alike delighting in the display of power.  The breakwater did its job, protecting the harbour front and vessels within the harbour against the angry breakers .....

Coastal Notes 6 February 2007
These days seafood is a popular dish, whether it’s local partans, tuna steaks, prawns from the Far East or the humble mussel.  Sophisticated refrigeration and high speed transport means that high quality fresh fish reaches us from all over the world.  This is comparatively recent .....

Coastal Notes 23 January 2007
This week’s pictures of the beachcombers at Branscombe beach in Devon following the grounding of the container ship MSC Napoli show an exaggerated version of a tradition that has been ongoing for centuries .....

Coastal Notes 9 January 2007
MRI team members were acting as safety stand by for the Fireballs on Hogmanay and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular sight of the swingers heading up the High Street ..... 

Coastal Notes 19 December 2006
As the final note of the last Coastal Notes of 2006 we’d like to thank all the people, too many to mention individually, who give MRI their support, and to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 


[To see Coastal Notes for 2008, click here.]
[To see Coastal Notes for 2006, click here.]
[To see Coastal Notes for 2005, click here.]
[To see Coastal Notes for 2004 and 2003, click here.]

 

Page updated: 16 April, 2008

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