Atoll Address Book

This week a received a copy of a magazine article written in Hong Kong's- Baccarat Magazine, it was entitled Bolt Holes from the Blue and Eriska was listed under its Atoll Address Book. It was a lovely article about some wonderful locations around the world and whilst I was at first amazed to see Eriska Highlighted it did make me initially very proud but then made me think about how others view what we are striving to achieve here. Clearly the other suggestions in the piece all trade heavily on their island lactation's and whilst we never take it for granted- I always have the cost of the bridge and drive at the back of my mind- we often fail to realize those assets sitting on our doorstep.

It did however kick me into action and spurr on our plans for replacing the current Pier with a new floating pontoon system at the North of the island to both make access easier for visiting yachts but also to allow guests of the island to access the water in a more dignified manner. The first plan was to completely refurbish the current Pier, then a second plan was hatched which was to be a floating deck linked to a static walkway so that depending on the tide there would be an easier access point and finally it looks like we may completely rebuild the pier and replace it with a new flaotiong deck which will rise and fall with the tide.

The first Pier was built at the turn of the last century and lasted nearly 70 years and then we built a new structure- with a bit more depth which took us out into the channel nd allowed larger vessels to approach, however the wooden structure and steel framework were too rigid and the torments of the sea destroyed it within 10 years so we installed a steel deck and this is the current framework however it too is deteriorating fast and will not last its 20 year life guarantee so we are looking to a new concept, changing technology and new materials are making the choices greater but in the end it would be nice to reconnect to our island status and keep out atoll address!!