Queensferry Rowing Club

The bucket of nurdles QRC volunteers collected last year has just been mailed to an artist in Belgium. Why? To help in the creation of an artwork highlighting the problem worldwide.

I’ll let the artist, Maarten Vanden Eynde, explain:

“It is a growing artwork called ‘Check Mate’ that consists of a chessboard that is made bigger every time it is exhibited, as one new square on the board is filled using exponential growth as a calculating factor. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, (etc, etc…) plastic nurdles are put on one square of the chessboard, making reference to the well know chessboard problem.

“According to a legend going back to the 13th century, the inventor of the chessboard game could ask any gift in return from the very happy king. He asked to follow the chessboard squares while filling them with rice, doubling the amount with every square. The King laughed and said ‘Is that it?’, and he gave the order to fulfil the request. Soon however he realised that all the rice in his kingdom, and even in the entire world would not be enough to fill the board.

“The work ‘Check Mate’ visualises the scale of the problem of plastic pollution and at the same time amplifies the worldwide effort to raise awareness and come up with solutions for this complex and multi layered global threat.”

Our offering to the project is a mere 50,000 nurdles, a drop in the bucket compared to the number at large. Maarten says he is being sent half a million by the organisers of the Great Global Nurdle Hunt, their haul from last year’s hunt.

I hope some of you can join in the club’s Breakwater Blitz and Nurdle Hunt, at noon on Sunday 15 March.

We have set the date of Sunday 15 March for our contribution to the Great Global Nurdle Hunt – and a QRC Breakwater Blitz litter-pick as well. The event will start at noon – which is low water. The Maid will have been out for a youth training row and will be on a pontoon, so the aim is to carry on collecting litter off the breakwater and counting nurdles until social rowing gets under way at 1pm. Rachel H is letting Port Edgar know – we need their permission to clamber about on the breakwater. We have gloves and bags, grabbers, buckets etc. I hope as many folk as possible can help out – it’s amazing how much stuff can be cleared in an hour!

For those who weren’t involved in last year’s nurdle hunt, these are little plastic pellets that wash up on beaches all around the world. 

Over 350 million tonnes of plastic was produced in 2018, weighing more than the total weight of the human population.

Nurdles are used in the manufacture of plastics and as they are shipped around the world spillages and accidents mean they enter the environment. Many contain toxic chemicals that leaches out into water. Birds and fish mistake them for food. Surveys have revealed the shocking extent of the problem – this year a Dutch study estimated that every year, more than 8 trillion of these microplastics – 23 billion granules a day – end up in the environment within the European Union.

The Firth of Forth is a study area as well, so our data contributes to that. The nurdle hunt was started by Fidra, based in North Berwick.

The more people we have taking part in The Great Nurdle Hunt the greater the pressure becomes for decision makers and industry to do something. By taking part you can add your voice to this cause.  – FIDRA

I will add that I’ve joined a campaign for a Plastic-Free Queensferry. There’s a plan afoot to stage a Mass Unwrap at Tesco in the near future. I’ll let you know when a date is set, and hopefully some of you will be able to take part. (Tesco gave us a date but at too short notice. We’re waiting for another one.) Everyone at the meeting I attended was very impressed to hear of the initiatives QRC was already take to minimise plastic waste.

Dónal writes: Well we had further disruption due to the vagaries of the weather at the weekend, with rowing only taking place on Saturday morning. In what were testing conditions after the wind picked up from the west, credit must go to our new skippers, Steph and Marianne, for getting us all back safely against a strong head wind. A steep learning curve but that is what it’s all about.

I would love to be able to tell you that is the end of the windy weather, but unfortunately I can’t. Having taken a look at the week ahead, we are due more strong winds on Saturday morning. I will keep an eye on it through the week and update closer to the time. I’ll be glad when Spring arrives.

Monday 2nd March
0740— 4.7m H. 1203 — 1.9 m L. 1957 – 4.7 m H.

Tuesday 3rd March
0829 — 4.5m H. 1254 — 2.2 m L 2051 — 4.5 m H.

Wednesday 4th March
0927 — 4.4 m H 1618 — 2.3 m L. 2158 — 4.5m H.

Thursday 5th March
1038 — 4.5 m H 1715 — 2.0 m L. 2315 — 4.7 m H

Friday 6th March
0544 — 2.0 m L. 1149 — 4.8 m H. 1809 — 1.6 m L.

Saturday 7th March
0634 — 1.6 m L. 1250 — 5.2 m H. 1904 — 1.1 m L.

Sunday 8th March
0724 – 1.3 m L. 1343 — 5.6 m H. 2000 — 0.7 m L.

Dónal writes: Having kept an eye on Storm Jorge as it progressed towards us I have come to the conclusion that social rowing cannot go ahead on safety grounds. At 1300 we are due constant winds of 29mph with gusts at nearly 50mph.

Hopefully things will improve next month – as the old adage goes, March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, and it is surely coming in like a lion tomorrow.

I’ll have a look at the week ahead when I do the tide times tomorrow.

Dónal writes: Hopefully there will be no storms this week as it’s getting a bit tedious. I’d rather be out on the water.

The slipway is still closed and will be closed until Friday, if there is any change to this we will let you know.

Monday 24th February
0849— 1.2m L. 1537 — 5.6 m H. 2104 – 0.9 m L.

Tuesday 25th February
0909 — 1.1m L. 1608 — 5.5 m H 2125 — 0.8 m L.

Wednesday 26th February
0940 — 1.0 m L 1639 — 5.5 m H. 2154 — 0.9m L.

Thursday 27th February
1006 — 1.1 m L 1714 — 5.4 m H. 2219 — 1.0 m L

Friday 28th February
1028 — 1.3 m L. 1751 — 5.3 m H. 2242 — 1.1 m L.

Saturday 29th February
1052 — 1.4 m L. 1830 — 5.1 m H. 2309 — 1.3 m L. Pontoon needed

Sunday 1st March
1132 – 1.6 m L. 1912 — 4.9 m H. 2344 — 1.6 m L.

See you all on Saturday!

Pictured is some wild weather on the Isle of Seil at the weekend.