MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Update.

Headlines:
Governor announces official ?end of tour' date; Wind brings woe to sailing family; Budget session next week; Court cases adjourned;
May Queen crowned tonight.

Governor announces official ?end of tour' date HIS Excellency the Governor Mr Howard Pearce CVO has announced his final departure date from the Falklands. Mr Pearce, his wife Caroline and daughter Suzanna (pictured together right), will leave the Islands on August 5, which will mark the end of Mr Pearce's tour of duty as Governor. The new Governor, Mr Alan Huckle, plans to arrive on the airbridge on August 25, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Helen Huckle. The First Secretary at Government House, Miss Harriet Hall, will be Acting Governor during the interregnum. ( Picture by Greoffrey Stevens)

Wind brings woe to sailing family

A NEW ZEALAND family is facing bills totalling thousands of pounds after their yacht was badly damaged in a storm in Stanley last weekend. Marc and Jane Le Lec's yacht, Tevakenui, was tied up to the pontoon beside the Public Jetty when strong winds reached storm force on Friday evening. The cleats which secured the boat's lines to the pontoon parted and, in the hours that followed, the boat sustained extensive damage. Everything on the deck of Tevakenui has been "either damaged or wrecked," Marc said, including the mast and rigging, navigation lights, electrical equipment, the self-steering mechanism, radar and the boat's solar panels. According to the Mount Pleasant Met Office, as the afternoon progressed, gusts were regularly reaching 40 knots and increased to around 50 knots as evening approached. Pete Watson of the Met Office commented, "We have been informed by our friends at Stanley Airport that they experienced gusts of 65 knots." There are no firm indications as to what the necessary repairs to Tevakenui will cost but Jane estimated it will be in the region of £15,000 to £20,000. This incident has "devastated" the couple and their daughter Marissa; they say that in their nineteen years of cruising, this is the first accident the boat has had which involves, "more than a little paint work". Marissa has lived onboard since she was three days old. Before she was born Marc and Jane completed a four-year circumnavigation of the Pacific, including a year in the Russian Far East. The family left New Zealand around two years ago on this trip and sailed to the Falklands from South Georgia; given the mileage they have covered, Jane said, the irony of the fact they were "smashed up" in a port is not lost on them, and she and Marc firmly believe the accident would not have happened if the dock was adequate for the conditions. They were tied up at the waterfront as they felt that berthing at FIPASS or the Canache presented both logistical and social problems: not only is their daughter attending school in Stanley but, Jane explained, the family wanted to "come and meet the people," something they felt they couldn't do from the Canache or FIPASS as they would need transport and a supply of fresh water. While they are clearly horrified by the damage to their home, they are grateful for the assistance they have received from Falklands residents over the past week, including Bob and Janet McLeod who have opened their home to the family, and volunteers who helped on the night of the accident. They say the best help they can now have from Islanders is "friendship" as they want to put the incident past them. "We need to start looking to see where we can get the parts we need," Marc said, adding that he is grateful to the staff at Sulivan Shipping who have offered help with obtaining equipment from abroad. Bad publicity Councillor Richard Davies says the Falklands' attitude to visiting yachts "gives us bad publicity" and puts off charter and private yachts from coming to visit. He commented, "They make a positive contribution to our community - even the private yachts bring in a moderate amount of income. The charter yachts bring money through passenger exchanges and fuel bunkering - it's a significant contribution." He said the Falklands are proud of their maritime heritage and Stanley is considered a maritime town, however, "...we don't do an awful lot to support these activities." With this in mind, Councillor Davies is to propose that the replacement of the government jetty is carried out at the beginning of the development of the dockyard area. "The dockyard brief which is to go out for public consultation focuses on museum plans and the heritage site; in it there is some reference to developing the waterfront towards the end of the project. "I will propose we do the jetty at the beginning without delaying the heritage site development." He is to argue for putting money aside in the Capital Budget for the works. He said the plans are not for a marina but for a "basic safe place to tie up," adding, "if the private sector wants to build a marina then that's great."

Budget session next week

THE Budget Select Committee meets next week to make its final deliberations. A meeting of Legislative Council will begin on Wednesday with a parade by a guard of honour from the Falkland Islands Defence Force outside the Court and Council Chamber. The Speaker, Elected Members, Commander of British Forces and other officials will gather to witness the inspection of the guard by His Excellency the Governor. Legislative Council will then open at 9.15am with an address from His Excellency before the Select Committee begins its deliberations. They will publicly reconvene on Thursday afternoon to approve any changes to the Appropriation and Finance Bills. Live coverage will be broadcast by Falklands Radio on Wednesday morning from 9.15am and again on Thursday afternoon from 2.15pm.

Court cases adjourned

FOUR men had their cases adjourned in court this week. Raul Luis Millares Hernandez and Simon Ladron De Guevara were charged separately under the Sexual Offences Act after an alleged incident on March 11. Neither entered pleas and their cases were adjourned until May 31. Both are subject to conditional bail. Ian Neil Leo pleaded not guilty to common assault and Nigel Stuart Peters pleaded not guilty to assaulting a police officer; the two men's charges stem from unrelated events. Both cases were also adjourned until May 31.

May Queen crowned tonight

ONE of the most important events on the Falklands' social calendar, the May Ball takes place in the Town Hall tonight. Doors open at 9pm and the May Queen will be crowned at midnight. Entry is £5 and a high standard of dress is encouraged. ? Penguin Newswill feature full coverage of the Ball in next week's edition and, in association with Stanley Electrical Ltd, will be producing a four page colour souvenir supplement.

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