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Lochranza looks to the past
Ninth century replica Scottish Berlin sails to Arran
Published:  15 August, 2008

A Glasgow based charity that encourages the building and sailing of traditional boats visited Lochranza last weekend.

The Orcuan was built by The GalGael Trust using elm oak and is a reproduction of a ninth century Scottish Berlin.

Current skipper Ian Bogle carries a crew of 12 with eight rowers for times when they cannot use a sail.

Sarah Brown from The GalGael Trust explained that the charity was established to restore a sense of purpose within unemployed shipbuilders from Govan.

She said: ‘As the tide went out on the shipbuilding history of Govan, many families in the community were left without work. At GalGael, we’ve created a template for renewal; a cultural anchor point around which local people are re-kindling skills, community and a sense of purpose.’

Building boats was seen as an ideal way to do this as it involves the whole community in constructing something that has a part of them in it.

GalGael was founded in the mid 1990s when the late Colin Macleod, together with a group of unemployed people, tried to re-establish a sense of belonging.

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