Montrose
June 7, 2021
7 Jun '21. HM 121. Montrose - full of surprises:
- The pilot book advises yachts not to enter Montrose Harbour - why? - Good Dog was allocated the only free berth, one designed for a large ship and cost £7m to build! See photo 3.
- Tom Hutchison is the HM and CEO of a multi million pound business. Born in Orkney, he attended Navigation College at 13 (as did all Orkney boys), went to sea at 16 and was the Master of a coaster by 21. After a spell as a pilot he became HM in 2015. Tom commands respect and is very ambitious for Montrose Port which supports 400 jobs locally and creates £26m for this part of Angus.
- The port uses the Marlin Smart Port IT system to control ship movements in real time - see Fiona testing it out in photo 4! The port's tenants include an anchor chain X-ray inspection company, another specialising in putting out fires on North Sea rigs and @bakerhughesco who build £5m oil wellhead installations - known as "Christmas Trees" - photo 5.
- One of Tom's more unusual "projects" was enticing the operational HQ of Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm into his harbour. In Newcastle he found a suitable redundant building, bought it on the spot and relocated it to his harbour - photo 6. From this building, Scotland's largest wind farm will be built and operated - a £3bn project with 114 turbines powering 2/3rds of Scottish homes! Not bad for a day trip to Newcastle!
- Another surprise was seeing a 7ft lego model of an Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel (our berth neighbour) comprising 120,000 bricks built by Jim McDonough one of Tom's employees! It was incredible - photo 7.
- This interesting harbour is on the River South Esk which passes through the Montrose Basin, a world heritage bird sanctuary. Samuel Johnson visited Montrose in 1770. He said of it: "... we found it well-built, airy, and clean". It is! John Heaviside Clark, the Waterloo battlefield artist, painted the harbour in 1824 just after it became a Trust Port - Photo 8.
Phew - what a visit Tom and Shirley - and thank you for your VERY generous donation to The Seafarers Charity. #montroseharbour
- The pilot book advises yachts not to enter Montrose Harbour - why? - Good Dog was allocated the only free berth, one designed for a large ship and cost £7m to build! See photo 3.
- Tom Hutchison is the HM and CEO of a multi million pound business. Born in Orkney, he attended Navigation College at 13 (as did all Orkney boys), went to sea at 16 and was the Master of a coaster by 21. After a spell as a pilot he became HM in 2015. Tom commands respect and is very ambitious for Montrose Port which supports 400 jobs locally and creates £26m for this part of Angus.
- The port uses the Marlin Smart Port IT system to control ship movements in real time - see Fiona testing it out in photo 4! The port's tenants include an anchor chain X-ray inspection company, another specialising in putting out fires on North Sea rigs and @bakerhughesco who build £5m oil wellhead installations - known as "Christmas Trees" - photo 5.
- One of Tom's more unusual "projects" was enticing the operational HQ of Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm into his harbour. In Newcastle he found a suitable redundant building, bought it on the spot and relocated it to his harbour - photo 6. From this building, Scotland's largest wind farm will be built and operated - a £3bn project with 114 turbines powering 2/3rds of Scottish homes! Not bad for a day trip to Newcastle!
- Another surprise was seeing a 7ft lego model of an Anchor Handling Tug Supply vessel (our berth neighbour) comprising 120,000 bricks built by Jim McDonough one of Tom's employees! It was incredible - photo 7.
- This interesting harbour is on the River South Esk which passes through the Montrose Basin, a world heritage bird sanctuary. Samuel Johnson visited Montrose in 1770. He said of it: "... we found it well-built, airy, and clean". It is! John Heaviside Clark, the Waterloo battlefield artist, painted the harbour in 1824 just after it became a Trust Port - Photo 8.
Phew - what a visit Tom and Shirley - and thank you for your VERY generous donation to The Seafarers Charity. #montroseharbour