Dayspring

Weekend at The Fringe

in Edinburgh - on Saturday, August 08, 2015

Sometimes, it's not possible to go sailing, and we ended up at the boat just for a break, having spent a couple of days at the Edinburgh Fringe.

On the way up we visited Beamish Open Air Museum, and then on to Edinburgh for a great time at the Fringe drinking, eating and people-watching!

Back in Largs, and in the absence of any sailing, we took the Ferry across to Great Cumbrae to "explore" Millport and Crocodile Rock.

This one's for Robert, who steadfastly refused to come with us and stayed at home...!

Tarbert Seafood Festival part deux

in Tarbert - on Thursday, July 02, 2015

Hoping for decent weather for our second annual trip to Tarbert, Jenn and I set off with absolutely no wind at all to motor the 25 Nm to the festival.

The weather was fine up until the last 30 minutes of the trip when it absolutely chucked it down, and as we meandered into the harbour we struggled to find the visitors pontoon. I'd radioed ahead and the Harbourmaster told us to head for the visitors pontoon, and naturally I'd imagined I could find it straight away.

Anyway, we headed towards a vacant space on a pontoon marked " Reserved for boats over 40' ", and a guy on a Beneteau (40 foot +) shouted over to say we'd be OK.

As we turned to berth the boat, we were manoeuvring in just 1.6 metres under the keel, and squeaked our way alongside to tie up in the reserved area.

It only turned out to be a Largs Sailing Club event, and we were fine for the night, but as others were due to arrive on the Friday, we would have to move the boat. By coincidence, we were told that the previous owners of Dayspring, Stan and Vivienne, were leaving then, and we could take their berth in the visitors pontoon.

I popped over with Jenn to catch up briefly with Stan, and agreed that we'd meet up early the next day to swap berths.

Our good deed for the evening was to help an old couple with their boat as their engine had failed and the Harbourmaster had gone out to tow them in - we helped tie them alongside as they seemed to be struggling - particularly ungrateful was the snooty woman on board who berated Jenn for not tying the boat up perfectly. There's gratitude for you, and the last place you want to store up bad karma is at sea. I wish them luck...

We headed into town for a customary steak pie at the local pub and a couple of pints of Guinness, ahead of a fitful night's sleep as a gale was passing through with 45 knot winds. Not good. In fact the waves were slamming so hard on the hull it made sleeping impossible, and I abandoned the aft cabin to sleep in the saloon.

The next day was rainy to start with and we waited until it had passed before taking in the sights of Tarbert. Mostly the charity shop, book shop and the internationally renowned department store - Ian Y McIntyre.

We made a beeline for the cookery demonstration and were one of the first there. I think we must have spent an hour and a half sampling scallops, mussels, tandoori salmon, exquisite seabass, cullen skink, and barbequed langoustines, before walking on to the seafood store at the end of the harbour to buy some scallops for tea, to cook with black pudding bought from the Co-op from a recipe out of the Vic 32 Puffer Cookbook. Absolutely beautiful.

Jennifer Scallop-Hands...

Arran Malt & Music Festival

in Lochranza - on Thursday, June 25, 2015

We'd planned the Arran Malt & Music Festival for a couple of months and bought the tickets well in advance.

My business partner, Martin, and his wife Alison were to be in Scotland for a holiday in their VW Camper Absinthe and Martin joined Phil and I to sail across to Lochranza, whilst Alison remained on Arran to greet us when we arrived.

We had a pleasant sail motor and sail across, picked up a mooring buoy nicely and rendez-vous'd with Alison, to have dinner in the Lochranza Hotel.

This was all very civilised and plainly the calm before the storm.

The next day we walked to Martin's campsite opposite the distillery for a circuit of Arran by campervan.

Stopped at Lamlash for coffee and cake, and on the West coast of Arran opposite Cambeltown for pizzas at the Café Thyme. Very nice.

Phil and I returned to the boat at the end of the day after wine and nibblées in Martin and Alison's Glawning and drank cask strength rum onboard to the light of an oil lamp hung from the boom, gazing wistfully at the horizon.

Ahar, yachting life at its best...!

Met Martin and Alison next day for the Ceilidh and Festival proper in the grounds of Arran Distillery. Beer flowed, burgers were eaten, and Alison's bottle of Scotch was consumed. See the Warning Signs...

We were temporarily adopted by three Scottish women who recognised that we were Ceilidh virgins, and we danced and whirled giddily and with considerable ineptitude until 1.30.

Phil and I walked the mile or so back to the boat in utter darkness, to find that the wind had picked up and the sea now had a short chop.

We took the dinghy back to the boat in complete blackness, and having no torch, Phil used his phone.

Eventually the right boat was found and Phil tied us onto the stern cleat, put his phone on the deck, tried to climb on to the steps and promptly fell out of the dinghy.

In a rush, I leant over the side of the dinghy to grap his inflated lifejacket harness, and overbalanced.

Double overboard...!

Our lifejackets inflated automatically, but regrettably, I hadn't lowered the boarding ladder and it was tied into its fixed position at deck level. Very unwise...

The next ten minutes were spent trying to climb back onto the boat, becoming weaker, and increasingly cold and stressed.

Eventually, with a huge effort I pulled myself up onto the steps and helped Phil aboard.

Two very shocked and drunk adult blokes sat quietly in the saloon for a short while having changed into warm clothing, very mindful of what could have been a very different outcome.

Lessons learned.

Don't drink too much if the tender is being used.
Don't let anyone else drink too much.
Always lower the boarding ladder when on a swinging mooring - in fact it's now tied using a quick release hitch with the bitter end of the rope trailing at sea level.
Take a VHF radio with you.
And... AWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, wear lifejackets in the dinghy

The morning after. Oh, the shame.....

Anchor stop in Cumbrae

in Millport - on Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Not much sailing today - just a quick trip to Millport to check the newly-fitted engine mounts and coupling, and also the Newmar battery charger fan which needed to be replaced as it had become very noisy..

I anchored in Millport Bay for a spot of lunch, just in time for the wind to pick up to 20 knots, and as the CQR anchor had not set properly it dragged me 50 yards toward the shore.

I'll be replacing the anchor with a 15kg Rocna and as this is reported to grip the seabed like a pit-bull, it should more than make up for my anchor technique deficiencies....

Preston to Dublin

- on Thursday, April 16, 2015

Dave had announced his plans to head on South to the Med after his cruise of the Western Isles last year, and I volunteered to crew for the Irish Sea leg, despite my known glass-stomach in this particular sea area.

We set off up the Ribble from Preston Marina for Holyhead, but with a change of plan. Dave's wife Wendy decided she would prefer to press on and head straight for Dublin - an overnight passage of 23 hours. Gulp.

As our voyage progressed and the cold of the evening set in (and there was no wind...), she decided it would be better to stick to our original plan and press on for Holyhead. Which we did.

Sunset came and the Skerries were visible on the horizon. Originally we were to round the lighthouse, but looking at the chart again, there was a shortcut through a clearly marked channel, which would save us at least an hour.

Arrived at Holyhead in the dark, around 10.00 and spent the next couple of days port-bound as the weather was fine, but blowing a consistent F5-F6, and it all looked a little choppy from the comfort of the Marina. Wendy and I enjoyed a walk up the Great Orme.

After a day we decided to go for it, and set off for Dublin in the morning. The sea was rolling on our aft quarter, and it was quite unpleasant. I was at the helm, and heard a clunk behind me. Shouting for Dave's son, Chris to take the helm, I jumped aft to secure the 8 foot high pole on top of which was the newly-fitted wind generator, and the whole lot was pivoting wildly backwards and forwards. The deck mounting had come loose and we were at risk of losing £1,200 of kit over the side. I managed to pin the damn thing down whilst Dave lashed the pole into place temporarily and avert disaster.
Sadly, on your knees at the very back of the boat, head down in a pitching sea brought sickness on, and I laid on the aft deck for an hour or two for it to pass. Bleurgh...

Safe in Dublin (Dun Laoghaire), we dropped into full-tilt tourist mode, taking in the Guinness Museum and seeing the sights, as well as having a couple of beers, including the world's tiniest Guinness...