The 2014-15 Harbour accounts are now available and show a surplus of £75k on a total income of £1m. There is always an element of relief when the final accounts show a surplus. The costs of the Harbour are relatively predictable; but the weather can have a significant impact on revenue. In spite of some dreadful summers, as a result of considerable hard work the Harbour has generated a surplus every year throughout the recession. This is good, as reserves have to be built up for 2035, when most of the infrastructure will need replacing. Planning on that timescale is not easy but nevertheless necessary.
The latest position on Egremont is that a bid has been put to the Heritage Lottery Fund for around £960k. The outcome will be known in September and, if successful, further negotiations will continue until the end of the year, with the Egremont leaving for a big refit in March 2016. However, if the bid fails, the narrowness of the window between September and the winter storms may well mean that she will have to remain in the Harbour this winter come what may.
At the end of last month the second of the three houseboats started her journey to Chelsea Marina. Unfortunately things did not go well off Littlehampton and, in spite of considerable precautions to prepare the houseboat for the sea, she started taking on water and slipped under the waves. The RNLI video is below:
The last of the three houseboats is expected to leave in August.
Disappointing news on the repair to the Kingsbridge quay wall. It seems that the wrong type of mortar was used on the stone facing and has washed out. The quay itself is not in danger as the load-bearing is supplied by reinforced concrete sections and the stone face is purely decorative: but the quay will not look pretty if the stone falls off.
Excitement mounts as soon the two 23 year-olds, Tom Rainey and Lawrence Walters, who have been rowing the Ocean Valour from New York to Salcombe in aid of The Brain Tumour Charity, should be arriving safely and be the youngest pair to have rowed the Atlantic.
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