Celestial happenings have been affecting the Scillonian in recent days; the spring tides have forced the ship to sail late for a period of three mornings.

Viewers of the Web Cam, eagerly awaiting one of the day’s bigger events made Scilly News journalists aware of the anomaly in the above picture. The Scillonian sailed late on Monday, Tuesday and it also due to be late on Wednesday.

One of the main design specifications when the Scillonian was built was that she had to ‘draw’ very little water so that she could moor alongside St. Mary’s and Penzance Quays at low tide. Subsequently, the Scillonian was built with an almost flat hull, obviously the ship could not dock in these extreme low tides though.

This is one problem that the architects behind the new Scillonian will have to overcome. Traditionally, the ships have got larger in succession from the last.

For viewers of our Web Cam, the Scillonian will be leaving Penzance at about mid day which will mean she will arrive in St. Mary’s at about 2:30 PM.