As expected July was a varied and interesting month for visiting commercial vessels starting with a visit from the Army landing craft Arezzo on the 9^th.

Our first cruise ship of the month came in the magnificent form of the Sea Cloud 2 on the 12th. A regular visitor to the Islands you could not fail to be overwhelmed to see the 117m vessel hoist its 32150 square feet of sails as she leave the Islands.

Following this on the 14^th, we had our first ever day hosting three ships at once. Of course we were blessed with peculiar fog patches which made for some interesting photos but a great day was had by all. The first ship came from the south, the Serenissima, built in 1960 was followed immediately by the 4077grt Corinthian which came from the north before our Pilot vessel Pegasus headed back to the south to finally drop one of our Pilots on the WindSurf;  a 187m 5 masted computer controlled sailing ship. Her size easily makes her the largest sailing vessel in the world.

The final cruise ship of the month was the Deutschland, a 22,400grt vessel; she was used by the German Olympic Committee as a hospitality ship during the London Olympic Games and has also been home to a German television series called ‘Das Traumschiff’.

June was one of our quieter months for ships during the summer period. Three visits in succession came from the Island Sky, a much talked about vessel on these pages at least. Her normally ninety odd passengers spent their days on sunny Tresco with exception of the last visit in which the wares of St Mary’s were sampled as well.

The last day of the month provided us with a visit from the Minerva.  At 12,500grt and 437ft in length, she could be seen as a medium sized vessel for the port. This ship, landing around 250 passengers here on St Mary’s was launched in 1996 and is becoming an annual visitor. Interestingly, and to the delight of her passengers I’m sure, she left via Broad Sound to see the Bishop Rock lighthouse, famed as the most Westerly point of the British Isles and the second tallest lighthouse in Britain. The Bishop Rock is also listed in the Guinness book of records as being the world’s smallest island with a building on it.