Want to get involved in maintaining and operating a traditional wooden sailing vessel? There are a number of different ways you can volunteer to safeguard, care for and sail this unique heritage asset.
Learn more
*Please contact us on info@swantrust.com if you would like further details when our 2022 dates are available.*
Join us for a guided tour of Lerwick Harbour to discover more about the growth of Lerwick from a small collection of trading booths and huts to the bustling commercial capital we see today.
We are delighted to be working with experienced local guide Laurie Goodlad to offer this new half day trip for 2021, which will let you see Lerwick as you’ve never seen it before!
Lerwick grew with the arrival of Dutch fishermen from the 1600s. Their arrival every June meant that locals flocked to Bressay Sound to trade with these foreign visitors. Laurie will introduce you to Lerwick at this time, and describe its continued growth, which saw it overtake Scalloway, Shetland's ancient capital, in size and influence by 1838. She will detail the second herring boom of the 19th century, which saw boats like Swan take to the water in their hundreds to execute the summer fishery, and bring you up to date with our current fishing industry, which is still the mainstay industry here in the islands.
Laurie will also tell tales of the ‘smugglers’ who built the town’s foundations and point out Jimmy Perez’s house from the sea on this leisurely tour of the picturesque Lerwick Harbour.
To reserve your place please e-mail us on info@swantrust.com.
Your trip will begin with a safety briefing including how to work the lines on deck and set the sails. We will then put this into practice, while we delve into Shetland’s past and explore the Lerwick waterfront.
Included in voyage
Want to get involved in maintaining and operating a traditional wooden sailing vessel? There are a number of different ways you can volunteer to safeguard, care for and sail this unique heritage asset.
Learn more
The Swan was in Unst and Yell last week to deliver a number of half day sails to pupils in the isles. Skippering the trip was Scott Sandison, who first came aboard the Swan as a schoolboy himself, which inspired him to pursue a marine career.
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The Swan travelled to Whalsay last week as part of the Trust’s activities to mark 25 years since the Swan was relaunched as a sail training vessel. The trip was a chance for local pupils to hear about the days when Swan was a fishing boat in Whalsay, and for the Swan to undertake a trip similar to her very first voyage following her relaunch in 1996.
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