The summer started with the G7 summit, a real honour that it was hosted in Carbis Bay. There was a lot of work behind the scenes making the security arrangements and getting ready for the arrival of the Royal Navy as well police officers from across the UK. We all got quite used to seeing armed officers making their way around the Wharf to get their cups of coffee and pasties!
Whilst there was disruption on the roads and access into St Ives, the marine operation went very smoothly, and it was enlightening to work with the Police and Royal Navy in managing this.
Since the G7 summit, we have seen vast numbers of visitors, and whilst they have been a welcome sight for the harbour businesses, the volume of people has brought its own issues. We have had to deal with increased numbers of vehicles as well as pedestrians.
Last August, we received news of town deal funding to provide a conversion of the store into a fridge; creation of a bait store; and construction of a shop to sell fishermen’s catch. After what seemed like an eternity, consent for construction of the shop was finally granted in March. Fortunately, the fridge conversion did not require any planning permission or listed building consent, so this work was completed by the end of March. The next hurdle was for the contractor to find a slot to start the shop construction works and we are currently waiting for approval from planning to use the granite we have sourced for the construction.
We laid 16 new managed moorings, replaced chains on the 4 visitor moorings as well as another 5 managed moorings. This has helped to reduce the waiting lists with all but 2 of the new moorings allocated. New Pier Buoy has been replaced, and is now lit on a trial basis. This will help to make the approaches to the harbour safer and we welcome user feedback.
After the lockdown last year, it has been good to see so many of the moorings in use this year, with people able to get out in their boats.
MAIB Report – Globetrotter
Following an investigation led by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch the UK Harbour Masters Association, RYA and other maritime bodies have been asked to highlight the lessons learned from this accident and other similar accidents and to request assistance with promulgating the advice contained in Emily’s Code to leisure boat users.
Summary of accident
At about 0800 on 31 May 2020, the 12m wooden hulled recreational boat Globetrotter sank in 5m of water during a sea angling trip off the coast of Fleetwood, England. Its owner made a Mayday call shortly before he, his son and a friend all entered the water. None of the sea anglers were wearing lifejackets or buoyancy aids, but they were able to use Globetrotter’s two lifebuoys to help them remain afloat. The legs of the owner’s son became entangled in Globetrotter’s anchor rope and despite the exhaustive rescue efforts of the crews of two nearby boats, he was dragged under the water and drowned.
Safety Issues
Globetrotter was not in a seaworthy condition and was ill prepared for the voyage the owner was an experienced leisure boat user but had little appreciation of the risks he was taking and the importance of passage planning the son’s chances of survival would have been increased had he been wearing a personal flotation device.
For further information please see – https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/sinking-of-the-wooden-hulled-motorboat-globetrotter-with-loss-of-1-life & https://www.rya.org.uk/knowledge/safety/emilys-code
