September 2010

Phone Taymara Head of Unit Bob Richmond 01382 542516

Both boats (and us) are working hard doing passenger trips and providing practical training for Taymara members most days of the week. Here, Marigot arrives at Broughty Ferry harbour to pick up passengers, while Badger provides training for our new Powerboat level 2 conscripts.


		E-mail Taymara webmaster, Ken Bushe contact@taymara.org



		Joining

		Regular meetings on Marigot, berthed alongside North Carr Victoria Dock, Dundee - Thursdays 7.30 pm and on Sundays throughout the winter





		Navigation Training

	Phone Taymara Head of Unit Bob Richmond - tel. 01382 542516

	E-mail Taymara website - contact@tyamara.org

		For Tay River Trip enquiries, booking and general information click www.tayrivertrips.org

		For other enquiries

		Phone Taymara Head of Unit Bob Richmond - tel. 01382 542516

		E-mail Taymara website - contact@tyamara.org




	When your colleagues are out on the water too, it’s always tempting to seek out the other boat, especially if you’re driving Badger which is much faster than er.....Marigot for example.



	Well it’s true



	Badger’s ensign fills with light as the sun sets over Dundee on an evening training trip



	Marigot casting off in Tayport Harbour after disembarking her passengers.



	This trip began in a force 4-5 and the wind dropped only slightly over the time we were out





	Norman and Belinda get some time in on Badger before doing their RYA Powerboat level 2 course







	Badger at speed


	Trips in the evening give trainees and passengers alike the opportunity to see fine sunsets over Dundee from the water.


	Both vessels back at Davy’s Yard


	....Another day...another epic. Gandalf the Grey waits for an attack of the orcs.


	Och it’s Dave.


	The sunset on this evening trip was totally different one from the night before but none the worse for that

We had a Channel 4 film crew on Marigot on this occasion who were filming a documentary to be shown sometime in the new year. They got some amazing footage of the Tay dolphins as well as interviewing contestants on Marigot for “Dare to be Digital” - the UK’s premier international video games competition. - Naturally, they also took the opportunity to interview Dave Paterson, Dundee’s own games industry guru who was one of Marigot’s crew for that day, .


	Dare to be Digital was established by partners Scottish Enterprise Tayside, Dundee City Council and the University of Abertay Dundee




	Earlier...

	Marigot was joined by presenter Richard Cadey who conducted a live broadcast on the River Tay’s bottlenose dolphin population for Radio Scotland.... while surrounded by bottlenose dolphins.


	Richard gets his sealegs in the harbour while Joel raises the bow fender.


	Almost immediately upon leaving Broughty harbour the dolphins came alongside


	Young ones appeared at first, riding on the bow wave


	Young dolphins are creamy coloured. Probably all the milk.


	Larger adults approach the boat now. This one leapt again and again, each time getting nearer


	This is a big dolphin. Some of the dolphins today were the biggest we’ve seen to date, presumably large males. Mind you, maybe they’re the same ones from last year and they’ve just grown a lot. That’s eating tuna for you.


	He kept on jumping right past Marigot.


	Three nice faces, all in a row.

It’s been proven scientifically that dolphins have nice faces.

You can’t argue with facts like that.


	This was the scene as the broadcast was about to take place. The satellite signal had been established and the broadcast was set to go......

		.....then the signal disappeared. Just like that and just at the very second when the broadcast was due to start

	Suddenly, we saw the true mettle of these guys when things go awry and we got a lesson in how the BBC can get the job done against the odds. Seamless improvisation by Richard on Marigot in the Tay and Fred Macaulay in the studio resulted in the broadcast being re-established by mobile phone and all the excitement of being surrounded by these huge, inquisitive, magnificent sea creatures was, for a few minutes, communicated in a very real and intimate way to the rest of our country.


	Nice one. Good radio moment.




	Bless them, their wee faces and their breath that stinks of fish on a windless day.





	Some of the most exciting sightings we see are of dolphins which don’t even break the surface They glow bright in the colour of the sea on that day, swimming deeply in the most fluent, exhilarating, powerfully acrobatic way imaginable. They exhibit impossibly sudden changes in direction and acceleration, swooping, turning, spinning, swimming upside down and yet ultimately they vanish again into the opaque depths of the Tay, disappearing from our sight as though they’d never been there.



	Crashing through the interface. Just one view of an amazing creature.



	Happy days, shipmates


	Taymara is a charity run entirely by volunteers on a not for profit basis for the benefit of the local community.


	We aim to provide a community boat service and maritime experience through sightseeing and dolphin watching trips which allow great opportunities to see the river and its wildlife as it should be seen - from the water!


	In addition, we aim to provide sea training for individuals and vulnerable groups who might normally be excluded from this experience. We also work closely with organisations who provide recovery and rehabilitation programmes which encompass drug and alchohol abuse.

		(Taymara is registered in Scotland, Charity number SC039319. Company number SC334650)


	Thanks to all our sponsors and all those who have supported us -


	Mr Clive McKeag, The DC Thomson Charitable Trust, The St. Katherines Trust, The Mathew Trust, The Tay Charitable Trust, The Alexander Moncur Trust, The Robertson Trust, Forth Ports and the Port of Dundee, The Apex Hotel, Dundee City Council, David Winch and Gareth Norman of Secureforce Controlled Environments