In 2012 the Alderney Wildlife Trust purchased Rye Harbour’s pilot boat, Rother III, for use as a wildlife survey vessel. She was sailed from her previous home of 30 years on the River Rye to the picturesque Braye Harbour, the northernmost port in the Channel Islands, in April of that year. At the time AWT made a commitment to scale up its marine work because there were no suitable vessels working in Alderney. The investment necessary was provided thanks to generous private loans made by AWT members.
In the years that followed Sula has been used primarily as a survey vessel, undertaking hundreds of vitally important survey trips including monitoring seabird breeding counts, keeping watch of the local seal population and how rising sea levels are affecting our coastline, to name just a few. Sula also taken many thousands of passengers to experience the ferocity of Alderney’s tides, as well as catch a glimpse of the spectacular seabird colonies that call our island home. Another crucial role Sula has filled is as a platform for film crews. Crews and presenters from TV shows as diverse as the BBC’s Coast, Blue Planet, Countryfile and The One Show, as well as French and American film crews, have all stepped onboard. This attention has, for more than a decade, helped to highlight the importance of wildlife to Alderney’s residents and visitors alike.
Originally commissioned for pilotage, Sula is a 33-foot purpose built Lochin workboat, with outstanding seakeeping qualities. She is stable and has a large deck area, which makes the transport of equipment for offloading on remote islets, such as the locations of the island's remote puffin and gannet webcams, easy work.
The operation of a commercially coded vessel is far from easy and only possible thanks to support from local donors and the tireless team of Wildlife Trust volunteers. In 2020-21 the AWT invested more than £40,000 re-engining and installing new electrics in the vessel, which extended her life by many years and made her a much more sustainable vessel.
In 2024, Sula will be working on projects ranging from reducing the impact of rats on Guillemot colonies, to wildlife rescue, and from mapping Alderney’s tidal flow and marine habitats, to providing free trips out to explore Alderney's waters for the island's school children. One of the other key areas of growing work is the monitoring of the island’s Grey Seal population, which currently has no formal legal protection on Alderney.
The Alderney Wildlife Trust is planning significant improvements to Sula during 2024; this will include installing a new shelter for passengers and fitting the boat with additional scientific survey equipment. To help meet this goal the Wildlife Trust is looking to attract business and private sponsorship or partners from within the Channel Islands’ wider community. If you’re interested in becoming a partner, please get in touch with Paul (communications@alderneywildlife.org) for more information.
The Trust is looking forward to utilising this fantastic asset for many more years to come.