Things are progressing well with the house. The floor is laid and protected with polythene sheeting. I leveled the base using small shingle from the beach (taken up with a yoke and two buckets!). I then laid polystyrene foam boards 50mm. thick and interlocking particle board flooring on top. I now have a level surface to work on.
The building has a catenary arch shape – the shape a chain or rope takes when hung between two points. When inverted, this is the best load-bearing shape and the wind resistance will be fairly low compared with a conventional building. I was intrigued to read some time ago that Gaudi used this technique to design the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and wanted to try it out for myself in a simple way.
The first arch is made – a bit of a struggle getting the timber bent, but managed in the end. The next ones will be easier now I’ve sorted the problems on this one. I now have steps up from the south harbour and brought up all the timber, plywood sheets and flooring. I’m trying various methods to lessen the swell in that harbour and will be setting mooring rings in the east harbour so I have an alternative shelter for the boat.
A busy day last Thursday - after lunch I collected a journalist and cameraman from the (London) Times - completely failed to convince the journalist, but you can't win them all. About 5:30 a fishing boat arrived with a film crew from ITV doing a series of programmes called Islands of Britain. The boat would not come into my peerie harbour, so I had to ferry them to the island in my boat. Two cameramen, two sound men, a producer and an organiser, plus presenter Martin Clunes. They stayed an hour longer than they intended and a good time was had by all. Fine day for it.
Back on the Shetland mainland for a few days holiday, swapping the outdoor life for the computer desk again. The fine weather spell seems to have come to an end and I'm reminded by a local correspondent that some of Shetland's worst fishing disasters happened in the month of July. I made the best use of the remaining fine weather to erect a wind-break around the new tent. A good thing too, because that night the weather broke and gale-force winds were the norm for the next couple of days. Without that protection the tent would have been very vulnerable. It's amazing what a difference a bit of flimsy plastic mesh can make. Meanwhile the original 2-man tent was gamely struggling to stay up - I would not have liked to be inside at the time.
Previous pictures of the boat have ben taken in uncharacteristically calm conditions - now you can see a more typical picture taken at high tide, when the motion is least. (This was at 4am, so not the best quality). I didn't take any at low tide, being more concerned with making sure everything was safe as the breakers rolled in. Fortunately the off-lying rocks take a lot of the energy out of the waves before they get to the mooring place, but the big swells still find their way in. I was pleased with the way the boat was able to ride out the storm, but hold no illusions that this would be the worst the winter had to offer. The old Yamaha 4hp engine has finally given up the ghost and I was on tenterhooks coming over to the mainland in a gale-force wind with just the 5hp Honda - fortunately no problems and the boat handled the conditions well. I'm now waiting for delivery of a new 10hp outboard, which will give a big safety margin.
On the last calm day I photographed the water flow in what I hope will be the main harbour. It faces East, the side of the island facing the outgoing tidal current (top right in the picture). The current hits the end of the island and sluices out through the gaps in the rocks. I intend to block those holes, but it will be a big task. I estimate the first hole alone will take about 100 tons of material to fill it. I'm intending to use 1-ton bags of smallish rocks, bound together with used commercial fishing nets and put in place by a work-boat with a crane - not a cheap job. If anyone can offer any suggestions I would appreciate it.
The first job on the house was to level the site. This required some material to fill in the unevenness of the rough-cut turf. Sand would have been ideal, but the nearest Forvik could offer was a fine gravel. Carrying two buckets of this from the beach, up the 15ft small cliff at the back of the beach and then up the slope to the site was probably the most strenuous thing I have done so far. I made myself a yoke, but even with that it was a hard job to negotiate the long overgrown grass. I already have the building materials stacked mostly just above the landing place, but most of the timber is now up on the site. I'm getting fitter by the day!
Things have settled down a bit after the initial surge of interest, so time to get back to work on the island and start building.
On citizenships there are some exciting developments that have delayed getting out the papers. It will now be possible to give you much more than I first envisioned. Thanks to everybody for your patience. See the Citizenship page for details.
The flag is now up and I have a bigger tent. The turf is stripped from the first building site and I carried in about three tons of building materials. Building work starts in the next couple of days.
The South harbour is equipped with mooring lines for the boat - the East harbour, although potentially a better sheltered harbour, needs a lot more work before it can be safely used - there is also a 30ft cliff to climb!
The boat performs well. Pretty heavily built, she carries a good load - all the building materials went on in two trips. At the same time, she planes with my elderly 4Hp Yamaha with light loads. The old Yamaha is feeling the strain and let me down a couple of times, so I got a second-hand 5Hp Honda as the main engine.
I've had journalists from Japan, France, Russia and the UK actually visit and have done radio interviews all over the world. One of these was with radio Hawaii and lasted about 20 minutes. In the middle of it the police arrived wanting to talk to me. My partner answered the door and was mortified that they should be visiting - she made them wait outside while I finished with Hawaii. At the end of the interview I said 'I'll have to go, the police are at the door'. Rather than coming to arrest me on some matter of high treason, they had heard reports of explosions on the island and wanted to know if I was using explosives, or did I have a shotgun? No to both and they went away. Back on the computer to find an email from Hawaii 'Are you OK?'. they had been inundated with emails from listeners thinking I'd been arrested!
A group of Israeli kayakers arrived on Thursday, having seen an article in their daily paper. They gave me a flag and had their passports stamped.
As you can see, Shetland is enjoying some fine, if not sunny, weather, while the rest of the UK suffers downpours!
Many people in Shetland are aware that there is something wrong here. What most do not realise is the size of the deception that has been perpetrated on Shetland by the British government. I have been researching Shetland’s legal and constitutional position for the past five years and it’s now time to put my money where my mouth is in an attempt to expose this fraud and to put it right.
I have recently become the owner of a tiny island off Papa Stour, which itself (for the benefit of non-Shetlanders) is a small island off the west coast of Shetland. I am returning to the Nordic tradition by re-naming it Forvik Island (strictly speaking, it should be Fårvik) – Island of the Bay of Sheep. On 21st June 2008, Forvik, by my Declaration of Dependence, reverted to Shetland’s true constitutional position – that of a Crown Dependency. Other Crown Dependencies include The Isle of Man and The Channel Islands.
Stuart standing outside the temporary accommodation block. Photo: Millgaet Media Forvik Island, or Forvik for short, recognises neither the British Government, nor the European Union as its superior. Because of Shetland’s unique history, there can have been no legal basis for Shetland to have been involved with either. It recognises Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I of Scotland and II of the United Kingdom as head of state.
For those who do not know, in the 15th century, Shetland was part of Norway. The Norwegian King Christian’s daughter was to marry King James III of Scotland and James was to receive a substantial dowry of 8,000 gold florins. At the appointed time Christian was unable to come up with the money, so he pawned Shetland to James until he, or his successors could produce the cash. James was only holding Shetland in trust until the money was forthcoming and consequently had very limited rights. Although the money was offered on many occasions, James and his successors always managed to evade the issue and hang on to Shetland by various subterfuges. Two hundred years later, in 1667, the plenipotentiaries of Europe confirmed that the pawning document was still valid in full force and that therefore the Scottish Crown could not claim the ownership necessary to incorporate Shetland into the realm. Shetland remained the personal responsibility of the Crown, but with very limited rights.
A further two years later, in a remarkable and little referenced Act of Parliament, Charles II re-confirmed Shetland’s status at the time of the pawning. He made Shetland ‘directly dependent upon His Majesty’, made it a Stewartry, directly answerable to the Crown and made it impossible for Parliament to change that position.
Nothing has happened since to change that situation and the pawning document is recognised as the basis of Shetland’s constitutional relationship with the UK. Those in power would like us to believe that Shetland somehow became part of Scotland - although nobody can provide a date when it happened. They would like us to believe that Shetland is part of the EU – even though Shetland voted to come out and there was no legal basis for it to be in anyway. They would like us to believe that the UK government had the right to use Shetland’s rich fisheries as a bargaining chip for the UK to enter the EEC. They would like us to believe that the UK government had the right to appropriate the seabed around Shetland to extract the oil. They would like us to believe that the Crown has the right to charge rents for the use of the seabed around Shetland – knowing full well that no such legitimate claims existed. In short, Shetland’s true position is an embarrassment to the UK government and Crown and its true history must be suppressed.
By declaring Forvik a Crown Dependency I am simply re-establishing the correct legal relationship between this part of Shetland and the Crown. By doing so I will prove that Shetland as a whole can get the same benefits and more - simply by asserting rights that already exist.
There will be no income tax, VAT, council tax, corporation tax, or any of the other taxes instituted by the British government. The only tax is a contribution by every citizen towards the cost of running the state - the old Nordic scat. This will be initially set at a level of one forvik gulde per year – about £55 sterling at current gold values. Forvik Island will have its own coinage backed by gold, its own stamps, and will register companies in a tax-free environment. Offshore banking and financial services will follow at a later date. Shetland has a right to all of these opportunities, but currently chooses to follow the unsubstantiated claims of the British government that it is part of Scotland.
Forvik will set down a claim to the sea and seabed – including fishing, oil and other mineral rights out to a limit of 200 miles, or to the median line between it and other states.
Shetland should properly be regarded as a Stewartry, answering directly to the Crown. Accordingly I have written to her Majesty the Queen offering my services as Steward of Forvik – recognising her as head of state, but recognising only those limited rights and privileges granted to the Crown by the pawning of Shetland in 1469 and subsequently confirmed by the plenipotentiaries of Europe in 1667.
I invite anyone in Shetland, or indeed anywhere else, who is interested in this project to apply for citizenship. Many benefits will be available to both individuals and companies.
Citizens can benefit from Forvik’s status in two ways: There will be a land-owning citizenry (only open to Shetland residents) – 8000 plots will be available to buy at a cost of 2 Forvik Gulden. Land-owning citizens will be entitled to vote and participate in the island's unique open direct democracy system. Land-owning citizens will decide how the island’s income is spent and what projects are undertaken. A non-landowner can become a non-voting citizen, but still be entitled to a share in the island’s income. Non-voting honorary citizenship is open to suitable persons from anywhere in the world. All citizens will pay an annual scat of one Forvik gulde per year.
I am also inviting the owners of other property in Shetland, whether that may be an uninhabited island, or one of the populated parts, to join Forvik in a federation to eventually provide a legitimate alternative authority to the Shetland Islands Council.
Forvik citizens will be able to pay their local and national taxes into a holding account – rather than to the SIC if they do not agree with national or council policy. Forvik will benefit from the interest paid on the account and the money is available at any time.
No person or their immediate family may own more than 20 plots. Votes are one per person, but share of Forvik profits is per plot.
There are strong currents in Papa Sound and heavy seas with certain wind directions. Access to Forvik is difficult, but a landing place has been built and I will be building a better harbour in the near future. A start has been made on the first building. This will provide basic accommodation until the more substantial administrative and accommodation centre can be erected. The airstrip, helipad and air traffic control buildings have not yet been sited.
First landing. The beach can only be used at high tide.
Temporary communications mast.
The first turfs cut for the official residence. Laundry services in the background.
The response to this site has completely swamped me - I'm getting emails asking about becoming a citizen every two minutes or so. I'm sorry to say it is not going to be possible to reply to everyone, but there is now a page where you can apply for citizenship. Your citizenship documents will follow shortly.
Some people are asking to come and live on Forvik. The whole island is only 2.5 acres and the land plots will be about 1 sqare metre - just so you can say you own a piece of land on the island. At a later stage there will be a small number of accommodation units, but I need to get a safe landing place before that can happen. There are no trees, only grass and sea pinks - plenty of seabirds and some otters. Cliffs on the west side are about 30ft. high, but that is the best site for a harbour.
Thanks to everybody for your support and comments.
visitors since the Declaration on 21st June 2008.
Setting up catenary
First arch
A break in filming
Stuart
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