Silurian

Over the past few years the Silurian has provided the impetus for the work being carried out by the Trust.

She has become a well-recognised and welcome visitor around the Argyll Islands and is central to most of our projects.

As a research vessel she travels about 300 -500 nautical miles a week, carrying scientists and equipment for visual and acoustic monitoring of cetaceans around the Hebrides.

At other times the Silurian becomes our floating classroom, providing island children with first hand experience of life on board a working vessel and the introducing them to the marine environment around their homes.

The Silurian’s first owner was a geologist and she is named after one of the major geological time periods. She is a Skookum 53, built as a private cruiser in 1982. In 1997 the Silurian was bought by Kit Rogers.

It is Kit’s brother Chris who designed the new Song of the Whale II. Kit had previously worked on board the Song of the Whale and Odyssey, and it was whilst he

was skipper on the Odyssey he met Jessie, who is now his wife. At that time Jessie was working with wildlife photographers and BBC wildlife teams and it was Kit who fitted the Silurian out as a platform for wildlife filming before chartering her out to the BBC. The BBC used the Silurian during the filming of the Blue Planet around the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Azores.

After this period the Silurian spent a year as a charter yacht but in 2001 when Kit moved back to Lymington, in England, she was sold to the Hebridean Whale

and Dolphin Trust.

Kit had already kitted her out with high cut genoas

and a crow’s nest to allow good visibility and

photography. She also carried hydrophones for monitoring the underwater sounds produced by cetaceans.

The Silurian was purchased by HWDT as a research vessel with funding provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund under the NÀDAIR programme. This programme is to assist in the development of projects  which will promote the environment of the

Argyll Islands whilst providing training and employment opportunities within the local communities. Not only were the Trust able to purchase the Silurian but three projects were also funded which lasted over a three year period until June 2004.

These projects provided for the employment a Skipper and a First Mate aboard the Silurian, Education and Research officers as well as

administration staff.

The costs of running the boat and other expenses

involved in these projects were also covered.

This has allowed HWDT to further equip Silurian

for her role as a research vessel and she now

carries 2 hydrophones. Each of these is made up of

a long towing line, lined with oil, down which the electric cables pass to microphones at the end. One of the microphones is right at the end of this cable and one is 3 metres further up.

The different sounds which they pick up from under

the water are relayed up the cable and onto the boat

where there are filters and boxes to analyse and

record the sounds and data collected from them.

Because of their set distance apart, the exact position of the cetacean producing the sound can be established. Silurian is also fully equipped with GPS

(Global Positioning System) which is accurate under

normal conditions to about 8 metres.

This therefore can be used to give a very exact position, not only of the Silurian but also of any cetacean heard

through the microphones. In order to fully monitor

these sounds Silurian has been fitted out with a

computer area to allow researchers to work on board.

During her monitoring and education trips Silurian needs to carry up to 8 people: the skipper, the first mate and staff as well as up to 5 volunteers, so she has 8 berths, two heads and showers and a good sized galley complete with fridges, freezer, cooker and microwave.

The saloon and the aft cabin are also used as

classrooms when students are on board so these

rooms are kept open and free from other equipment.

Monitoring trips need to take about ten days so to

allow for these longer length passages Silurian carries 2,000 litres of fresh water as well as the usual safety equipment including 12 life jackets, a ten man life raft and a 4m RIB tender.  

Silurian is a Bermudan mizzen ketch so she has two

masts, the aft mast being the shorter one. Her sails

are triangular and the depth of her keel is 2.3 metres

. Her overall length is 65 foot and she is quite a heavy

vessel which provides a good stable base in rough

seas. Her engine is a Perkins Sabre Flat 6 cylinder

with a PRM gearbox. There is an 8kW generator and

2 aerogens. Her fuel capacity is 4,000litres. As well

as the GPS system Silurian carries radar, NAVTEX

and SSB as well as Inmar Sat C. Her computer systems allow for internet access via infrared connections to the mobile telephones.

Silurian was purchased under the NÁDAIR project with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Argyll Islands Enterprise. The Charity Bank loaned us the extra capital needed to complete the purchase and other major supporters are listed below. All of these supporters and many, many others have all been essential in the purchase, equipping and running of Silurian. Without them we could not possibly have dreamt of having such a wonderful vessel to use. We owe you all an enormous debt of gratitude:

Scottish Hydro
Studiosus
J&JR Wilson Trust
Ocean Safety
Yamaha
Avon
Sanders sails
Aerogen
Seafare
Ray marine
Perkins
Caroline Walmsley
John Walmsley
Lynn Walmsley
Melody Ryle
John Leach
Van der Sluis
Boat Electronics Ltd
Ardfern Yachts
Howth Yacht Club marina
Shane manning
Discover the World
Mull Engineering
Port Ellen Marina
Tobermory Harbour Association

Video Clips of life on board Silurian are available, select the version most compatible with your connection: