Longcraig update – September 2024
Malcolm Leckie
Longcraig Lead
First it was PORPOISES – now DOLPHINS even WHALES
Having reported in June about porpoises which were sighted near to Longcraig, there has been an abundance of marine life over the summer.
A dolphin (now known as Donny the Dolphin) has been sighted numerous times around the bridges, and for Scouts from 1st Craigalmond in Kirkliston, they enjoyed some 45 minutes with Donny the Dolphin playing around their sailing boat and around our safety boat, in the waters between Longcraig Pier and the Forth Bridge one Friday evening in August. Clearly keen to find some new young friends! It is believed there are possibly several of them swimming around the Firth of Forth, sightings have been reported from Cellardyke in Fife to Portobello near Edinburgh, and various locations around the bridges area.
There are also reports of sightings of a small whale (unknown variety) in the upper Firth of Forth at the end of August.
An image of a bottlenose dolphin
Photo courtesy of iNaturalist
2024 Summer Months – July, August, even into September……
Well, they said these are the summer months!
And this year, there were sunny summer days – just now and again; there were dull and dreary days, just now and then; but noticeably especially in August, there were days on end with strong winds and gales. Quite unseasonal, but very disappointing for some Groups who had made bookings for activities at Longcraig which had to be cancelled as it was too windy.
Why does ‘too windy’ mean we have to cancel some bookings? It’s all about Risk Assessments and therefore one of the things we have to do prior to every activity session on the water. ‘Too windy’ can mean different things for different age groups – what might be super good fun for competent sailors or paddlers can often be ‘just too scary’ for some of our younger sections, or for people who are not accustomed to being in boats, or perhaps in choppy water. And, sometimes, it depends a bit on what the tide is doing. Obviously, tide come in and tides go out (twice every day) but the effects of the tidal flows combined with wind strength and direction can sometimes mean that an activity has to be cancelled, where at other times similar conditions could have a different outcome. We try hard to predict a little bit in advance what the conditions are going to be for people, so we can advise on cancellations before people journey to Longcraig. We don’t cancel activities lightly, but we do take very careful consideration of the various risks that wind, tides, weather conditions, and even the experience of the participants create, and a consensus decision is reached to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all concerned – that’s Young People, Leaders, our own Instructors, even our boats and equipment – they can get damaged too if it’s too windy!
If your activity booking has had to be cancelled, we will always work with you to try and reschedule or find another suitable date!
Journey to Net Zero – COMPLETED
What is Net Zero?
The term net zero means achieving a balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, and the carbon removed from it. This balance – or net zero – will happen when the amount of carbon we add to the atmosphere is no more than the amount removed. (source: Energy Saving Trust)
Latest update:
The final phase of our Net Zero journey was the installation of replacement heating in our two training rooms, using Infra red heaters which can be programmed, or controlled on the sport with remote controls. This is what they look like:
Training Opportunities
We are trying to make arrangements to run a Paddleboard training /Assessment Day some time soon! The Assessor has not yet managed to come up with a date for this training course, but for anyone interested in finding out more, please get in touch and give us your details so we can let you know as arrangements firm up: getinvolved @longcraig.info
Safety Boat Training Course (leads to RYA Safety Boat Certificate) 5th and 6th October – 2 days course. Pre-requisite for this course is Powerboat level 2 and a reasonable amount of logged hours driving powerboats in varying conditions.
Powerboat Level 2 Course (one weekend) 2nd and 3rd November
This can be a follow up to a Powerboat 1 Course or it can be done directly. It is a necessary pre-qualification for anyone seeking to do the Safety Boat course (see above)
VHF Marine Radio Course (one day) Saturday 9th November.
This one day course leads to the RYA Short Range VHF Certificate, which is a requirement to operate a Maine Band radio used for communications at sea. These can be used for anything from large yachts, to dinghies, kayaks, even paddleboards and are now seen as just as important a safety measure as buoyancy aids or helmets. The course will be run entirely indoors. It’s also encouraged for anyone working with boats, whether at Longcraig or elsewhere.
For information on, or to register an interest in, any of these courses please contact us at getinvolved@longcraig.info
Volunteering?
As the demand for our activities grows and we constantly seek to expand what we are able to offer, we need more volunteers to help us implement our plans. We now have a super-duper warm up to date activity centre to welcome volunteers into!
Ther are two distinct types of volunteers that we can effectively make use of:
TYPE 1:
These volunteers are the people who make the centre operate. We have spaces for:
Skilled water activity people who could lead activities on the water;
Semi-skilled people who have some skills but we can help develop those to a level where they can lead activities;
People with some skills to lead our shore-based activities (for bad weather days or to expand the operations of the centre)
Volunteers who can help in a number of ways ‘behind the scenes’ – with e.g. finance, marketing, recruitment, maintenance, boat or building repairs
Please simply contact us at getinvolved@longcraig.info with your details.
We’ve set aside the following dates where we will hold an introduction session to welcome any potential new volunteers and explain further what wed o and how you can get involved:
Wednesday 4th September 7pm
Monday 7th October 7pm
We’ll take care of the rest!
Do you have any parents in your Group who might be interested in this? Please do let them know!!
TYPE 2 Volunteering:
We can also offer a different type of volunteering, which is to provide an opportunity for groups of adults, scouts or explorers to come along during the ‘closed’ season and give us the benefit of your volunteering – this could be just for one event, or it could be – say – once a month for a period of time. This can count to a number of outcomes, such as DofE volunteering, various scout badges and awards, or simply to lend a hand for a few hours. Things you might get involved in could be checking of buoyancy aids, fixing boats, painting, and decorating some parts of the centre which were not impacted by the recent building improvements, beach protection work, or behind the scenes stuff like preparing our land activity kits.
If you’re interested, please get in touch to make arrangements or discuss further.
