Watch boat being built

A TRADITIONAL fourareen will be built by hand at this year’s Shetland Boat Week, with the public invited to watch its progress.

Boat builders Jack Duncan and Robbie Tait will be tasked with creating the clinker-built fourareen when the event is held between 7-13 August.

It will take place at the Boat Shed near to the Shetland Museum and Archives in Lerwick each day between 10am and 5pm, with experts on hand to explain the process.

The keel will be prepared prior to the start of the week, while the wood has already arrived in Shetland after being shipped up from Sutherland.

Boat week co-ordinator Emma Miller thanked sponsors Serco NorthLink Ferries for supporting the exercise.

“This project will be at the heart of the event this year, with the boat build progressing each day. It’s a perfect opportunity for the public to see traditional boat building skills first hand and to see the process from beginning to end,” she said.

“We had lots of requests after last year’s event to showcase more boat building, and I don’t think we could have done better than this fantastic project. We’re very grateful to NorthLink and their staff for helping to make this happen.”

NorthLink managing director Stuart Garrett added that the company was “delighted” to be involved.

The programme for this year’s boat week, which is now in its second year, will be revealed on 2 May.