Princess Anne here ...do you have a £15 Vauxhall Astra fan belt to fix my £1/2m yacht?
Royals rescued by island garage
IT is her pride and joy – and the only place she can truly escape the stresses that come with being the hardest-working member of the Royal Family.
Now Princess Anne has told how her £500,000 yacht was saved by a £15 fan belt from a Vauxhall Astra after breaking down at sea.
The Princess Royal and her husband, Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, were on a sailing holiday off the West Coast when Ballochbuie developed engine trouble.
The couple – both experienced sailors – were forced to tack their way to shelter on the Isle of Eigg in the Inner Hebrides.
They called for help to fix the problem, but no one on the small island, home to only 100 people, had the necessary parts.
The only vehicles allowed on Eigg are those belonging to the islanders – who are not required to have MoTs for their cars.
A fan belt was finally sourced in a garage 80 miles away in Tobermory on Mull.
It was taken by road to Fishnish ferry terminal, before a ferry crossing to the mainland at Lochaline. It was then driven 70 miles north to Mallaig, where another ferry crossed to Eigg – a journey which would have taken at least five hours.
Anne, who is President of the Royal Yachting Association, revealed her experience to fellow yachtswoman Celia Bull, who lives on Eigg, at last month’s London Boat Show.
Miss Bull, who runs Selkie Explorers yacht charter business, said: ‘A request was sent out and the good folk of Tobermory commandeered a Vauxhall Astra fan belt to set the royal engine to rights.
‘She said it was a really good memory – she loves sailing around the Inner Hebrides. The princess was impressed by the resourcefulness of the local people finding a way of getting something to work.
‘When she came to the Sail Scotland stand she was not expecting a yachtswoman from Eigg – her face lit up and she told me the story.
‘You cannot cool the engine without the pumps working. It doesn’t matter if it is a £500 boat or a £500,000 boat, you need a fan belt. The Astra fan belt got them back to where they were going to.’
The princess and her husband keep Ballochbuie, a Rustler 44 yacht, at Ardfern, a hamlet on Loch Craignish in Argyll.
Launched in 2012, it is named after an ancient forest on the Balmoral Estate, believed to be a favourite walk of the couple who spent their honeymoon on the royal estate after marrying at Crathie Church in 1992.
The boat took more than eight months to build to Anne and Sir Tim’s specifications – including twin cabins, a large galley and lounge areas.
On their regular Scottish sailing trips they often visit lighthouses – a particular passion of the princess, who is patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board.
She wants to ‘bag’ every one of Scotland’s 205 main navigational beacons and is believed to be past the half-way mark.
The fan belt was sourced from Mackay’s Garage – the only one in Tobermory.
Owner John Mackay, 65, said he keeps a small fleet of Astras for hire and stocks their fan belts.
He added: ‘We do get yachtsmen wanting fan belts for their engines. The Astra belt must match the pulley size on the boat’s engine.
‘It’s great to think we helped Anne out.’
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said it was a private matter for the couple.