Life jackets and CCTV provide safe haven for wrecked sailors

Published on Wednesday 26 August 2009 09:44

AFTER six unhappy years in Leith, including being beaten to the point of collapse, the infamous statues of the Cavorting Sailors have made an unexpected return to the Capital's streets.

The sailors were created by local artist Shaeron Averbuch in 2002 in tribute to the nautical heritage of Leith, and as part of plans to revive the area.

But earlier this year, they had to be carried off from their spot outside Leith Library plaza after being vandalised to such an extent that they could barely stand.

Now, two of the original three sailors have returned in an unlikely location – tucked away in a quiet spot a few miles away at Granton. They are now residents of a courtyard outside Granton Lighthouse, where Ms Averbuch has recently opened a studio space.

And she is pleased to have found a new place for them to stay – as, if she hadn't, she would have needed to take them home.

"In a way I thought 'please don't give them back' but the council insisted I have them," she said.

"It is not obvious to a lot of people that they are there because it is off-road but at least it's a nice area and they haven't been totally crushed.

"They're still hanging on by their last threads."

In their new guise, they sport life jackets to protect them from the elements – and to reinforce the nautical theme.

Ms Averbuch also said that they are more likely to be safe at their new location – as it is protected by 24-hour CCTV. And they tie in with her current exhibition, Jump2DE-light, which looks at the regeneration of the Waterfront area.

"Although the sailors did help regeneration, they were vandalised and were eventually pulling the space down, and people wanted rid of them," she said.

"I don't feel negative about them.

"A few people from Leith have come to my exhibition and been really pleased to see them.

"At least they have still got some sort of life here. For now, I think they could survive two or three years – as long as people don't try to destroy them."

Graham Chapman, chairman of Leith Harbour and Newhaven Community Council, said he was pleased that the statues had been given a new home – and that they were no longer in Leith.

He said: "There is not really much affection for them.

"They just weren't received well at all. We thought that if they were moved to somewhere else in the area they might get on a bit better there."

He said that, as he hoped the area where they used to reside is expected to get developed as part of the revamp of Leith Theatre, they would have needed to move soon anyway.

"I'm happy she's got somewhere for them," he said. "They were getting more and more vandalised where they were and she wasn't willing to rework them, so they had to go."