Belle follows in footsteps of 1948 sister

MY COMMENT at the end of last week's column – that I was not going to refer to the free trip for island residents on the Sark Belle until after it had happened as it had been frequently postponed because of the weather – made me the target for some good-natured banter when the trip finally went ahead the day after publication.

There was a reasonable turnout for the round-the-island voyage and Sark Shipping director Julie Mann told me later that – as children say after Sunday school outings – a good time was had by all. Julie didn't add the bit about everyone going home tired but happy, but by the sound of it, that's what happened.

It had been intended that Belle skipper Alex Williams (nice to see a Sark lad doing well in his chosen career) would simply take the vessel around Sark and that certainly looked to be the case as he eased the Belle out of Maseline Harbour and headed south in what were absolutely perfect travelling conditions.

However, someone had taken a piano accordion on board and Julie told me that the passengers were having such a good time that the decision was made to do another lap, so to speak, but this time heading north about.

Not surprisingly, the acquisition by Sark Shipping of what was formerly the Bournemouth Belle – after a relatively short period of chartering it while the Bon Marin underwent some emergency work – has been the subject of considerable comment here. Primarily that is because Sark Shipping Company is wholly owned by the people of Sark and, without putting too fine a point on it, considerable amounts of public money have been made available to the company in the fairly recent past.

It follows, then, that the company's financial well-being – and particularly its capital expenditure – is naturally a topic for discussion. I commented some weeks ago that some residents were contending that the acquisition should have been a matter for Chief Pleas to decide and I was pleased when Shipping Committee chairman Conseiller Andy Cook told me he agreed with my comment that political interference in Sark Shipping's affairs was what had bedevilled the company for far too long.

As to the vessel itself, Julie told me that the Belle was built in 1975 and has a steel monohull based on the Fairmile B Admiralty design. It is interesting to note that the former Royal Navy Fairmile B vessel Silver Commodore was used on passenger services between Guernsey and Sark for 14 years from 1948. So much for the Belle not being suitable for use in these waters.

And on that subject, Julie was at pains to stress that the company intends to use the Belle only between April and October and she added that the vessel was licensed by the Guernsey harbour master to carry 180 passengers between Guernsey and Sark.

During those months she will work alongside the Sark Venture (passenger capacity 120) and the Bon Marin (capacity 131) but the company expects considerable savings on fuel costs. The Venture uses an average of 200 litres of fuel per round trip and the figure for the Bon Marin is even higher, at 250 litres.

However, the Belle, with a significantly higher passenger capacity, uses only an average of 116 litres of fuel per round trip.

I make no apology for devoting this column to the new vessel, if only because it is important for shareholders – in theory every Sark resident – to know the reasons behind the Sark Shipping directors' decision to purchase.

• Next week, Peter Cunneen takes over this column while I enjoy a few days in France.

• The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.