I believe the new boat was to be a trial. May or may not work but the people who live on the islands wanted to try it. It can be a little frustrating to see another island closer that the distance I go to the grocery and not being able to get there without spending the day going, probably in to Kirkwall and then back out, and then waiting several days for a trip back if you want to do more than wave hello. You can go back and forth from Kirkwall to Shapinsay all day. There was, I recall, a sailing where you could connect from Rousay to Wyre and Egilsay. The northern isles would like a connection to their neighbors too. When trying to fight declining population and keep the island communities alive they should be able to try what they want to build stronger communities. If you can take a bus from Kirkwall to Stromness or Birsay why can't you get a boat from Westray to Sanday without building one, buying one, or hitchhiking with a fisherman. All of these are done of course, but a regularly scheduled boat licensed to carry foot passengers is not unreasonable. Boat service should be seen as important to small islands as roads and buses are to other areas. If the people who live there want to try it, let them. Hope I get a chance to try it myself. Karen In a message dated 6/16/2010 8:30:16 P.M. Central Daylight Time, slater.anne@gmail.com writes: On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 9:42 PM, Tuck <tuck12@comcast.net> wrote: > Anne, > > es not the Kirkwall Hospital have a helicopter for emergency > airlifts? T he quotes I heard on the video clip were about football > teams getting to matches, not appendectomies. > No idea, but I do know that helicopters are a heck of a lot more expensive. > > Sure, having a fast boat is a good idea, but let's hope it doesn't > spur so many more that the lovely slower ferries You are definitely a romantic! ;+) > are pinched out of > business. Of course they won't be, since the small fast boats can't > carry cars, cows, nor much else but people. > Exactly. There will always be a need for them > > As for the oil spill in the Gulf, it is a world problem, not a local > one. And as for this link being only about genealogy, I never heard > that and wouldn't be interested if it was so limited. > Yes. In fact when it started (under Sigurd) it was distinctly NOT for genealogical questions... Anyway, before fast boats and helicopters, I'd wager many a life or limb was lost if there was no doctor or nurse on the island-- does anyone know the extent of medical coverage off the mainland? Anne > > Tuck > On Jun 16, 2010, at 9:13 PM, Slater Anne wrote: > > > Unless you're on Stronsay and need to have your appendix out NOW.... > > > > There's a time and place for everything, and I'll bet that the fare > > for the > > high-speed passenger-only ferry will keep people from using it > > frivolously. > > Anne Slater > > > > On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 9:29 PM, Tuck <tuck12@comcast.net> wrote: > > > >> I'd rather thought that the essence of Orkney was not about speed. > >> > >> > >> Tuck > >> On Jun 16, 2010, at 2:57 PM, Bruce Fletcher wrote: > >> > >>> You have to put up with an advert at the start of the clip! > >>> <http://video.stv.tv/bc/news-070610-n1-ferry> > >>> -- > >>> Bruce Fletcher > >>> Stronsay, Orkney > >>> <http://claremont.islandblogging.co.uk> > >>> > >>> ------------------------------- > >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > >> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com > >>> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > >>> the body of the message > >> > >> > >> ------------------------------- > >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > >> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >> > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com > > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > > the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

All, Karen wrote: "There was, I recall, a sailing where you could > connect from Rousay to Wyre and Egilsay. " Yes there was. I have > taken it. Seriously, a fast boat is a good idea, though it will almost certainly be for convenience rather than necessity. And it won't replace the RORO ferries. There is plane service to North Ronaldsay, which I have taken and enjoyed, flying so low over the emerald green islands you can reach down and grab a sheep. It's a wonderful way to see Orkney. In the end, the more means of travel the merrier. Tuck

I agree Tuck. The fast boat is set up by and for the local community. It is possible to get out and back to most of the islands in a day but it can be a long journey AND you have to be over on the Mainland for the day. The fast passenger boat cuts out that need. One option which was under discussion for isles ferry replacements by the local authority was to run a faster passenger only service boat from Lyness, via Graemsay to Stromness, with a larger cargo ferry for trucks, cars, livestock etc being run less frequently. I suspect for various reasons, including funding, this won't happen. But it is recognised that thinking outside the box will be required in the future! Sian On 17/06/2010 04:33, Tuck wrote: > All, > > Karen wrote: "There was, I recall, a sailing where you could > >> connect from Rousay to Wyre and Egilsay. " Yes there was. I have >> taken it. >> > Seriously, a fast boat is a good idea, though it will almost certainly > be for convenience rather than necessity. And it won't replace the > RORO ferries. > > There is plane service to North Ronaldsay, which I have taken and > enjoyed, flying so low over the emerald green islands you can reach > down and grab a sheep. It's a wonderful way to see Orkney. > > In the end, the more means of travel the merrier. > > Tuck > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 9.0.829 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2941 - Release Date: 06/16/10 07:35:00 > >

I agree Karen. The funding was raised by a local community development trust after a need was identified in the community. Quite often people may want to visit neighbouring isles to take part in activities, visit family etc. And not everyone takes their car to kirkwall every time they visit. There IS some resistance around to increasing links to the MAINLAND as some isles fear a loss of services. Indeed an Orcadian was telling me that before Westray had a daily ferry service, there were more services on the island, more builders and tradesmen etc. But now folk can travel to the isles to work the competition has reduced the number of local businesses. However Westry and other islands still manage very well. Someone asked about medical services on the isles - I'm not sure of the latest status. Stronsay were looking for a GP after theirs retired, and I think the same was true of some other Northern Isles in ORkney. The larger islands have a GP in resisdence, an a local nurse. Smaller populations may just have a nurse. On Graemsay we have neither, deemed too small a population and too close to the mainland. The local health authority has announced it will be recruiting MORE GPs for isles cover, altough with future cost-cutting likely I don't know if that will come about now. Local hospital isthe Balfour - small general hospital. No helicopter!! It's like a small community hospital - anything major and the Scottish Air Ambulance service fly up from South to air-lift passengers to Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Glasgow depending on the case. Very contentious issue in ORkney at the moment due to response times. If Air Ambulance unavailable then coast-guard will conduct medical evacuation. And I too hope this is a general discussion list - I believed te genealogy list was separate. Sian Graemsay Orkney On 17/06/2010 03:04, KJEMEM@aol.com wrote: > I believe the new boat was to be a trial. May or may not work but the > people who live on the islands wanted to try it. It can be a little > frustrating to see another island closer that the distance I go to the grocery and > not being able to get there without spending the day going, probably in to > Kirkwall and then back out, and then waiting several days for a trip back if > you want to do more than wave hello. You can go back and forth from > Kirkwall to Shapinsay all day. There was, I recall, a sailing where you could > connect from Rousay to Wyre and Egilsay. The northern isles would like a > connection to their neighbors too. When trying to fight declining population > and keep the island communities alive they should be able to try what they > want to build stronger communities. If you can take a bus from Kirkwall > to Stromness or Birsay why can't you get a boat from Westray to Sanday > without building one, buying one, or hitchhiking with a fisherman. All of these > are done of course, but a regularly scheduled boat licensed to carry foot > passengers is not unreasonable. Boat service should be seen as important to > small islands as roads and buses are to other areas. If the people who > live there want to try it, let them. Hope I get a chance to try it myself. > > Karen > > > > > In a message dated 6/16/2010 8:30:16 P.M. Central Daylight Time, > slater.anne@gmail.com writes: > > On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 9:42 PM, Tuck<tuck12@comcast.net> wrote: > > >> Anne, >> >> es not the Kirkwall Hospital have a helicopter for emergency >> airlifts? T he quotes I heard on the video clip were about football >> teams getting to matches, not appendectomies. >> >> > No idea, but I do know that helicopters are a heck of a lot more > expensive. > > >> Sure, having a fast boat is a good idea, but let's hope it doesn't >> spur so many more that the lovely slower ferries >> > You are definitely a romantic! ;+) > > >> are pinched out of >> business. Of course they won't be, since the small fast boats can't >> carry cars, cows, nor much else but people. >> >> > Exactly. There will always be a need for them > > >> As for the oil spill in the Gulf, it is a world problem, not a local >> one. And as for this link being only about genealogy, I never heard >> that and wouldn't be interested if it was so limited. >> >> > Yes. In fact when it started (under Sigurd) it was distinctly NOT for > genealogical questions... > Anyway, before fast boats and helicopters, I'd wager many a life or limb > was > lost if there was no doctor or nurse on the island-- does anyone know the > extent of medical coverage off the mainland? > Anne > > >> Tuck >> On Jun 16, 2010, at 9:13 PM, Slater Anne wrote: >> >> >>> Unless you're on Stronsay and need to have your appendix out NOW.... >>> >>> There's a time and place for everything, and I'll bet that the fare >>> for the >>> >> > high-speed passenger-only ferry will keep people from using it >> > frivolously. >> >>> Anne Slater >>> >>> On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 9:29 PM, Tuck<tuck12@comcast.net> wrote: >>> >> > >> >>>> I'd rather thought that the essence of Orkney was not about speed. >>>> >>>> >>>> Tuck >>>> >> >> On Jun 16, 2010, at 2:57 PM, Bruce Fletcher wrote: >> >> >> >>>>> You have to put up with an advert at the start of the clip! >>>>> <http://video.stv.tv/bc/news-070610-n1-ferry> >>>>> -- >>>>> Bruce Fletcher >>>>> Stronsay, Orkney >>>>> <http://claremont.islandblogging.co.uk> >>>>> >>>>> >> >>> ------------------------------- >> >>>>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>>>> >>>> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com >>>> >>>>> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and >>>>> the body of the message >>>>> >>>> >>>> ------------------------------- >>>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>>> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>>> >>>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> >> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com >> > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and >> >>> the body of the message >>> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 9.0.829 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2941 - Release Date: 06/16/10 07:35:00 > >