Wick’s historic Isabella Fortuna wins ‘best presented boat’ award at Portsoy traditional boat festival
The Wick Society’s historic fishing vessel Isabella Fortuna sailed home from the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival at Portsoy with a new award.
The 19th-century Fifie is among around 30 traditional boats from around the UK that joined the annual celebrations at the Aberdeenshire port at the weekend.
The Isabella Fortuna – skippered by Malcolm Bremner and crewed by Alan Miller, Jonathan Sinclair and Michael Tait – won the award for the best presented boat at the festival.
This award considers not only the boat itself but also how the crew and shore helpers interact with the visitors that come aboard and with those who spectate from the quayside.
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Mr Miller, the Wick Society’s boat team secretary, said the boat was in pristine condition thanks to the dedicated group of volunteers who carried out all the paint work, and he gave a special mention to Alex Paterson who did the painting and sign writing on the vessel.
Mr Miller was invited to the big stage to give a talk on the boat and for a live question-and-answer session which he said helped to promote the aims of the group in preservation such an iconic boat. “We felt proud to receive such an award,” he said.
The crew sailed the Isabella Fortuna from Wick to Portsoy, departing last Tuesday at 8am and arriving in Buckie that afternoon.
Mr Miller said: “The Wick Society boat team contacted Buckie Fishing Heritage Centre and arranged a visit. The next morning we visited the Buckie museum and were made most welcome.
“We also got access to the chapel dedicated to those from the area who were lost at sea. The names of all the lost souls and the names of the boats they were on were listed on plaques on the wall.”
He said it was a sombre occasion, especially as his own second cousin William Grant -who was lost on the vessel Celerity in the Pentland Firth in 1981 - was among those listed.
“The chapel is a place for bereaved families to go to quietly reflect and pay their respects,” Mr Miller added.
That afternoon they took a group from Buckie RNLI out for a trip on the Isabella to Cullen and back then on the Thursday sailed into Portsoy, where the gangway was set up and the boat prepared ahead of the festival.
More than 1000 visitors came aboard over the weekend and Mr Miller said the crew enjoyed the interaction with other boat crews, in particular The Swan, Reaper and White Wing.
The crew left Portsoy at 2 o’clock in the morning on the Monday and were safely back in Wick at 8am.