Sandhaven Skipper at odds with Harbour Trust
A 63-year-old Sandhaven skipper praised by the community as a local hero after saving a kayakers' life and raising thousands of pounds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, is angry over a decision by harbour managers to force him move the container he uses to repair creels.
Skipper Michael MacDonnell is at the centre of a long-running power struggle between the Sandhaven Pitullie Harbour Trust and some members of the Community Boat Owners Association.
The trust insists it has offered to relocate Mr MacDonnell's creel container to the east side of harbour, while Mr MacDonnel says he's not willing to budge arguing he's been in the same spot on the middle pier for 26 years.
The trust first notified Mr MacDonnel on March 26 about their decision and have since threatened to remove the structure at the end of this month at his cost under a lease agreement.
"I've spent most of my life down here, night and day," Mr MacDonnell told the Herald. "This is just getting out of hand and I'm not amused. I've been here 26 years and this just seems to be a vendetta by the harbour trust."
Mr MacDonnell insists the east side of the harbour is a bad vantage spot for spotting anything remiss in the harbour. Over the years, he's rescued more than one swimmer in trouble and even aided police in their search for missing bodies.
However, Mr Robert Smith, Chairman of the trust, denies any vendetta and insists they are being very reasonable and have offered another site to Mr MacDonnel.
Mr Smith also insists the trust want to place all boat owner containers on the east side of the harbour, clearing the middle jetty for boats laid up during the winter, or for repair.
He said:"We have plans to increase the berthage in the harbour and don't want to be heavy-handed about this, but you can't run a harbour by catering for the wishes of one man. It's a difficult situation for everyone.
"Five of the boat owners decided they also wanted containers for storage, so we decided in November to site everyone on the east side of the East Pier."
Boat association member, Stanley Clark, said Mr MacDonnell had contributed and invaluable service to the community. He said:
"Michael's love of the harbour is well known to everyone, you can always find Michael down at his store repairing creels, always ready to help and advise on anything you might need and if he had it in his store, he would give it to you.
"Michael's a real character in this village - the things he's done are unbelievable."
In May last year, Mr MacDonnel was recognised as a hero by the readers of a regional newspaper for plucking a young man from the sea in his 16-foot boat Antonio.
A teenager had been kayaking with another member of the Grampian Community Water Sports Club when his craft capsized.
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Weather for Fraserburgh
Thursday 24 May 2012
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