From the 'Scotsman', Friday 21st January:-
Tiny Fleet Sets Sail to Hunt for Loch Ness MonsterOver the years Nessie hunters have gone to great lengths in their quest to solve the enduring mystery but one monster enthusiast is scaling down the search by deploying a pair of boats just 2ft long to seek out the legendary creature.
Gordon Holmes, from Shipley in Yorkshire, has packed his models, designed like speedboats, with £1,600 worth of electronic equipment which he hopes will locate any unusual goings on beneath Loch Ness.
Mr Holmes says he became fascinated with the loch during a family trip to the famous waterway when he was just 12.
In recent years he has made eight trips to Loch Ness and will be back in May to continue his quest. Previously he has conducted operations from the shore, dangling tracking and listening devices into the water, from a short distance.
He is now using the radio controlled boats to follow up a visit last year when he shot film footage of two “unidentified objects” moving on the surface of the loch.
His main boat, St Columba, carries sonar “fish finder” equipment capable of plumbing depths of 500ft with a CCTV camera which feeds pictures to Mr Holmes’ laptop.
The second boat, called Netnessie, has a hydrophone underwater listening device fitted with an amplifier and digital tape recorder.
Mr Holmes said: “This will be the first radio-controlled model boat attempt to find the monster. There have been many expeditions on the loch using equipment costing thousands of pounds while mine has cost a few hundred pounds”.
It strikes me that if he catches anything he might be asking the tug-towing fraternity to help out.
Barry M
PS. It's not 1st April yet, is it?
