We are sailing: Musicians charter boat to gig
● Group hired their own fishing boat from France to make deadline
Scottish musicians the Dunedin Consort chartered a fishing boat between France and the UK to beat new coronavirus quarantine rules – and managed to get home just ten minutes before the deadline.
A group of Scottish musicians chartered a fishing boat between France and the UK to beat new coronavirus quarantine rules – getting home with just ten minutes to spare.
The Dunedin Consort, based in Edinburgh, had travelled to France for a concert in Normandy – their first performance together since lockdown began in March.
The eight baroque musicians arrived at Hayling Island in Hampshire at 3:50am on Saturday after a five-hour Channel crossing – just ten minutes before new government rules stating that anyone coming back from France would have to isolate for two weeks came into force.
Jo Buckley, the Dunedin Consort’s chief executive, said the group knew quarantine was a risk as they travelled to France – but said the organisation would have lost thousands of pounds if it had not performed. The group is lined up to perform at the online Edinburgh International Festival next week and needed to be able to play together rather than being isolated at home.
The French concert, entitled Nature’s Voice, took place on Friday night in Lessay Abbey, Normandy. Once the new quarantine rules were announced by the UK government on Thursday, the group started trying to find ways they could get home.
Eurotunnel trains sold out and air fares were up to six times more than normal, and although ferries increased capacity there were no spaces.
“This is the impossibility of planning concerts amidst all the changing rules and regulations,” Ms Buckley said.
“We looked into ferries, the Eurotunnel, flights, even chartering a private jet — you name it, we tried it, but we couldn’t find any way of doing the concert and getting home before the quarantine curfew.
“Because work is so precious at the moment, I didn’t want the quarantine rules getting in the way of anyone who has work coming up in the next two weeks, as they are all freelancers.”
Eventually on Friday morning they tracked down a firm that hired out a boat for fishing trips from Hayling Island.
Once they finished the concert at 10:30pm local time, eight of the 13-strong group boarded a coach to Cherbourg where they met the Valkyrie boat.
Ms Buckley said: “It was lovely. The boat was very comfortable. We were all able to have a little sleep inside even though we were all quite excited when we got on board. It was a calm night, so it was a very easy crossing.”
On arrival in the UK, the musicians were taken to London Euston by minibus and from there were able to make the final leg of the marathon journey home.