Finally heading off on the push north with the tide this evening. The forecast is terrible, S or SE6-8, so we may not get very far, but its a start.
Iain's looking after the skippering side of things, and he's not us down for a 5pm start.
Tomorrow should see us head over to the west coast of Skye, so we should be ideally placed for a hop across the Little Minch to the Hebrides.
But you never know in this game, we might still be in Dunstaggnage next week!
Friday, 31 July 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009
its a waiting game…
Position Dunstaffnage, Argyle & Bute
Last day of civilization before we head out to the Outer hebrides, so we're spending the day getting everything preped & ready to go.
Got a few repairs to do also, only minor things like hinges, but we may as well get everrting shipsape.
The sails away to be mended to, and a few extras put on it to make it easier to handle.
It'll be nice to get off again, and get back to the cruising life. I think the guys have probably had enough of Oban too!
The weathers looking a bit miserable, with a SE6-8 coming in tomorrow, but you vant have everythin. Guess well have to see what it brings. Rain most likely.
Last day of civilization before we head out to the Outer hebrides, so we're spending the day getting everything preped & ready to go.
Got a few repairs to do also, only minor things like hinges, but we may as well get everrting shipsape.
The sails away to be mended to, and a few extras put on it to make it easier to handle.
It'll be nice to get off again, and get back to the cruising life. I think the guys have probably had enough of Oban too!
The weathers looking a bit miserable, with a SE6-8 coming in tomorrow, but you vant have everythin. Guess well have to see what it brings. Rain most likely.
Monday, 27 July 2009
the Mishnish is calling...
Position 56° 37'.3N 006°04.1W, Tobermory, Mull.
The last three days have seen the guys doing plenty of skills and drills, in and around the Oban area.
Friday saw them head south again, towards Croabh Haven, via the Sound of Luing or Cuan Sound. Plenty of intense pilotage for Casey then!
Saturday and they were off back north again, this time to Lockaline, on the north side of the Sound of Mull. A beautiful anchorage in there, and very protected fro mthe winds, which were building as they arrived.
The plan was to practice sailing on oand off the mooring buoys, but is was so well sheltered, they had to head back out into the channel to find enough wind!
Not only did they catch their first fish of the trip (apparantly a HUGE specimen that kept them in food for days!), but they also found out the benifits/draw backs of using the GPS as an anchor drag alarm. Thoug it does help if you set them properly so they don't go off every 5 mins. All night. Kind of glad I wasn't on boad for that!
They're curently in Tobermory, as I'm sure you'll all know is home to Ballamory, the kids TV show. A beautiful little town, on Mull itself, with probably one of the most famous pubs in the country (amongst us sailors at any rate), the Mishnish.
On the way there, they had plenty of MOB (man overboard) drills to get their teeth stuck into.
According to Martin, their instructor for this week, they don't seem to dislike him particularly. Yet.
Heading back to Oban for Wednesday, when I'll take over again, and we can travel a little further afield, perhaps over to the Outer Hebrides for a few days. Get them to show me how they're getting on with all the skills n drills.
The last three days have seen the guys doing plenty of skills and drills, in and around the Oban area.
Friday saw them head south again, towards Croabh Haven, via the Sound of Luing or Cuan Sound. Plenty of intense pilotage for Casey then!
Saturday and they were off back north again, this time to Lockaline, on the north side of the Sound of Mull. A beautiful anchorage in there, and very protected fro mthe winds, which were building as they arrived.
The plan was to practice sailing on oand off the mooring buoys, but is was so well sheltered, they had to head back out into the channel to find enough wind!
Not only did they catch their first fish of the trip (apparantly a HUGE specimen that kept them in food for days!), but they also found out the benifits/draw backs of using the GPS as an anchor drag alarm. Thoug it does help if you set them properly so they don't go off every 5 mins. All night. Kind of glad I wasn't on boad for that!
They're curently in Tobermory, as I'm sure you'll all know is home to Ballamory, the kids TV show. A beautiful little town, on Mull itself, with probably one of the most famous pubs in the country (amongst us sailors at any rate), the Mishnish.
On the way there, they had plenty of MOB (man overboard) drills to get their teeth stuck into.
According to Martin, their instructor for this week, they don't seem to dislike him particularly. Yet.
Heading back to Oban for Wednesday, when I'll take over again, and we can travel a little further afield, perhaps over to the Outer Hebrides for a few days. Get them to show me how they're getting on with all the skills n drills.
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Position 56•21'3N 005•35'1W, Oban, Argyll & Bute.
Well, so much for our last night in NI! As we headed out of Lough Foyle the forecast was for an easterly F8, which nobody particularly fancied, so we headed for shelter in Greencastle, on the west coast of the lough. The almanac states yachts aren't welcome, but as we nosed our way in, past the ferry and numerous fishing boats, we were surprised to find several yachts, all local craft, taking shelter from the same gale!
Lovely place, just a small fishing village, but a very active one. Didn't realise it is in Eire, until we saw the flag flying from the maritime museum! Oh well, at least we didn't embarrass ourselves buy trying to buy something from the shop with pounds!
Riding out the gale here meant we had a day to catch up on some repairs, and general cleaning etc, so it wasn't wasted.
Oban is the next stop, 100M north, and our first stop on Scotland's west coast. It's the guys first true overnight passage, with winds forecast from the south, but nice and gentle(ish).
We're about 2 hrs away, and looking forward to a shower! The weather hasn't arrived yet, we had to motor the whole way, with the exception of around two hrs in the early morning. The watch system we adopted for the night seems to have worked nicely (3hrs on and 3hrs off), plenty of sleep was had by all.
We're picking martin up this evening, who'll be taking them off for the next few days and drumming some skills and drills into them for a change!
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Well, so much for our last night in NI! As we headed out of Lough Foyle the forecast was for an easterly F8, which nobody particularly fancied, so we headed for shelter in Greencastle, on the west coast of the lough. The almanac states yachts aren't welcome, but as we nosed our way in, past the ferry and numerous fishing boats, we were surprised to find several yachts, all local craft, taking shelter from the same gale!
Lovely place, just a small fishing village, but a very active one. Didn't realise it is in Eire, until we saw the flag flying from the maritime museum! Oh well, at least we didn't embarrass ourselves buy trying to buy something from the shop with pounds!
Riding out the gale here meant we had a day to catch up on some repairs, and general cleaning etc, so it wasn't wasted.
Oban is the next stop, 100M north, and our first stop on Scotland's west coast. It's the guys first true overnight passage, with winds forecast from the south, but nice and gentle(ish).
We're about 2 hrs away, and looking forward to a shower! The weather hasn't arrived yet, we had to motor the whole way, with the exception of around two hrs in the early morning. The watch system we adopted for the night seems to have worked nicely (3hrs on and 3hrs off), plenty of sleep was had by all.
We're picking martin up this evening, who'll be taking them off for the next few days and drumming some skills and drills into them for a change!
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Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Fw: Last stop in NI…
Position 55•00.29N 007•19.20W Londonderry, NI
Lovely days sail, 4-5s all day, from the west, but you can't have everything! For a change we had a full 9hrs with the tide behind us. Lovely.
Sitting alongside londonderry's visitors pontoon in the city, having a glass of wine while dinners cooked, life can't be much better than this.
We're planning to head to Islay tomorrow, if the weather permits naturally. Might well end up somewhere completely different!
The guys will have a shock this week, because now starts the hard work. Lots of technical sailing, skills 'n drills, mob's… they may well end up hating me, but I've got to have them ready for Friday, when Martin gets on board for a few days.
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Sunday, 19 July 2009
saturday night in ballycastle...
Position 54•12'47N 006•14'27W Ballycastle, NI
Weather: W3-4, patchy clouds and sunny spells
Turns out Ballycastle, up there in deepest darkest NI, is a very nice place indeed.
We arrived at about 8, after beating our way up the coast from Larne. We ended up missing the tide through Rathlin Sound, not just because we left late because Casey overslept, but also just the fact we were beating… again!
Had fun trying to sail through the opposing tides, but eventually had to give up. Seeing as we were going nowhere,though we were making 6kts, the tide through Rathlin Sound basically tells you to go the other way. We were only 3M short of the harbour which was the real bummer.
Off to londonderry today's tide, to catch up on a bit of shopping! Hopefully we'll get a place on the pontoon right in the city, may well be a pin there too!
Its a 30(ish)M trip, should take us about 6hrs, though judging on our last few passages, it could be anywhere from 6 to 16hrs. Let's see if Dylan can be the first to get a tidsl gate right!
Weather: W3-4, patchy clouds and sunny spells
Turns out Ballycastle, up there in deepest darkest NI, is a very nice place indeed.
We arrived at about 8, after beating our way up the coast from Larne. We ended up missing the tide through Rathlin Sound, not just because we left late because Casey overslept, but also just the fact we were beating… again!
Had fun trying to sail through the opposing tides, but eventually had to give up. Seeing as we were going nowhere,though we were making 6kts, the tide through Rathlin Sound basically tells you to go the other way. We were only 3M short of the harbour which was the real bummer.
Off to londonderry today's tide, to catch up on a bit of shopping! Hopefully we'll get a place on the pontoon right in the city, may well be a pin there too!
Its a 30(ish)M trip, should take us about 6hrs, though judging on our last few passages, it could be anywhere from 6 to 16hrs. Let's see if Dylan can be the first to get a tidsl gate right!
Friday, 17 July 2009
friday night in Larne
We left Bangor expecting a nice hour or so up the coast to Large, ha, should've known better!
Took us 7hrs to cover about 13miles. Beating into a NW6-7, against the tide, and against our better judgment! Oh well.
Dropped the anchor for the night, and are now attempting to catch our first fish of the trip. The fish don't seem to know what we've get planned 'cause they've not shown up for the party. Maybe we can tempt a lobster with a bit of left over chilli instead…
Took us 7hrs to cover about 13miles. Beating into a NW6-7, against the tide, and against our better judgment! Oh well.
Dropped the anchor for the night, and are now attempting to catch our first fish of the trip. The fish don't seem to know what we've get planned 'cause they've not shown up for the party. Maybe we can tempt a lobster with a bit of left over chilli instead…
We're here!
Position 54•41'2N 005•36'7W, Bangor Marina, NI
Fantastic days sail, full main and full genoa, cracking along at 6-7kn for most of the day. Until of course we knew we were pushing the timings for the till gate at the Mull.
Then of course the wind died copmetely, the tide turned against us and we ended up going backwards for a while!
We cut the corner through Donaghadee Sound to end the day with some fantastic sailing through the narrow channel.
Miserable forecast for the morning, NW5-7, so some food shopping might be the plan!
I'm quite amazed we haven't broken anything yet, though we did lose the reefing lines in the boom. Turns out somebody can't tie a bowline afterall! You know who you are!
Heading out after lunch to have a race around the cans, see if we've got a speed freak on board!
Fantastic days sail, full main and full genoa, cracking along at 6-7kn for most of the day. Until of course we knew we were pushing the timings for the till gate at the Mull.
Then of course the wind died copmetely, the tide turned against us and we ended up going backwards for a while!
We cut the corner through Donaghadee Sound to end the day with some fantastic sailing through the narrow channel.
Miserable forecast for the morning, NW5-7, so some food shopping might be the plan!
I'm quite amazed we haven't broken anything yet, though we did lose the reefing lines in the boom. Turns out somebody can't tie a bowline afterall! You know who you are!
Heading out after lunch to have a race around the cans, see if we've got a speed freak on board!
well, we were only a tad later than planned!
Position 54•46.16N 004•05.07W, mod mooring off Little Ross.
Run 25M
Absolutely miserable evening! Beating into a SW4 doesn't sound bad until it's in the irish Sea in the middle of the night.
We've had our first victim of the dreaded seasickness, part of the reason to pull in for the night. Its never pleasant watching someone throwing up over the side of the boat. Funny, yes, but not pleasant.
After a few hours we'll be off again to catch the tide round the Mull of Galloway.
Run 25M
Absolutely miserable evening! Beating into a SW4 doesn't sound bad until it's in the irish Sea in the middle of the night.
We've had our first victim of the dreaded seasickness, part of the reason to pull in for the night. Its never pleasant watching someone throwing up over the side of the boat. Funny, yes, but not pleasant.
After a few hours we'll be off again to catch the tide round the Mull of Galloway.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
waiting for the tides
Had a change of plan, as so often happens when you're sailing!
We're heading off on the evening tide now, hoping to get to Bangor, NI. The weather looks like it may play ball, though no doubt that'll change too!
Its going to be our first qualifying passage (over 60M),so hopefully the guys will get on alright with it.
We'll lwy you know when we get to bangor, assuming of course Iain gets the passage planning right!
We're heading off on the evening tide now, hoping to get to Bangor, NI. The weather looks like it may play ball, though no doubt that'll change too!
Its going to be our first qualifying passage (over 60M),so hopefully the guys will get on alright with it.
We'll lwy you know when we get to bangor, assuming of course Iain gets the passage planning right!
Sunday, 12 July 2009
The story so far...
July 12th
Position - 54°43'.93N 003°26'.32W
We've got 3 days left now before we head off on the first leg of the circumnavigation of the UK, so we've given the guys a full weekend off, so they can all be at home for the last time in 6 weeks (apart from Dylan, who came up from the South coast so he's stayed with us instead).
We've still got some bits to cover before we go, but Wednesday looks to be the departure day. Unfortunately, the tide is early, so it's going to be an early start, though it does mean we can get to somewhere like Bangor, NI at a reasonable time.
Position - 54°43'.93N 003°26'.32W
We've got 3 days left now before we head off on the first leg of the circumnavigation of the UK, so we've given the guys a full weekend off, so they can all be at home for the last time in 6 weeks (apart from Dylan, who came up from the South coast so he's stayed with us instead).
We've still got some bits to cover before we go, but Wednesday looks to be the departure day. Unfortunately, the tide is early, so it's going to be an early start, though it does mean we can get to somewhere like Bangor, NI at a reasonable time.
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