Goodbye to Dunbar - the Sirius sails on to Copenhagen

Diary from the Greenpeace ship Mv Sirius 21st July 1996

Out of Dunbar harbour with room to spare, the Hooley acting as tug, and a farewell party of a couple of hundred Dunbar folk, including the cliff / break wall jumping lads. A quick right, and a return trip to land to dispose of the two young stowaways who had decided to purge their childhood years by donating all their teddy bears and dancing trophies to the Sirius. A final circumambulation of the Isle of May and we head East North East to Coppenhagen.

We had an excellent open day in the harbour on Saturday with well over 1500 visitors coming aboard. The Edinburgh Greenpeace group was there in force and a warm breeze across the harbour was especially welcome after the unseasonally cold and blustery weather of the last few weeks.

As I write we are passing through a shoal of local Scottish trawlers, between 10 and 15 in the immediate vicinity - small boats each with between 3 and 4 people on board; not a supertrawler employing a few. The campaign embraces a vital cross-over between social, economic and environmental issues - I have to say that this makes our work all the more rewarding.

So it's goodbye to Dunbar, and the Wee Bankie for now, but the battle to save the North Sea, and all our seas, continues...