Have I upset someone?

With the alternator now sorted, everything on Pixie is up and running. It's now me that needs fixing. Chewing on a bit of sour dough bread, with a bit of gooey cheese on top, I felt a crack.

I'm off to the dentist this afternoon.

Just when everything is fixed, something else goes wrong.

Ignorance isn't bliss

With the alternator (and Kirsty's parents) on a 4 hour drive from just south of Stirling, Kirsty and I got up early to make the rendezvous. The tide ran north through Kyle Rhea until 0834 this morning. Kyle Rhea is a narrow stretch of water separating Skye from the mainland. This meant we had to be in Kyle Lochalsh by 0900 ish. We dropped the moorning off the Duisdale Hotel at 0615 and motored up to Kyle Rhea. There was no wind, so the tidal eddies and streams south of the narrow channel were hardly noticable, we avoided them non the less. We had over two knots of tide with us as we went up the impressive channel. The sun was breaking through the could occasionally lighting patches of green with a warm yellow glow. When the sun does come out the countryside is more beautiful and impressive than it's possible to imagine.

We arrived just before 0900, a Sadler was leaving the pontoon when we arrived, so we stood off and waited for them. They motored past before doing a U turn and coming back for a chat. They has recognised Pixie from Yachting Monthly and wanted to know how were getting on. After a brief chat they headed south.

We tied up and went off to the shops. I can't remember the last time we went in a shop much bigger than Pixie, to walk into Kyle Lochalsh's Co Op was like being a kid in a sweet shop! A full selection of vegetables, rather than a few tired green potatoes, a squidgy onion and a wrinkled pepper. We had choice again! Lord knows what I'll be like when I get back to our local Waitrose!

Kirsty's parents and the alternator arrived around 1100, so we had lunch together before I set about fitting the alternator.

It should have been an easy job, 3 wires, two bolts, job done. Sadly like any job on a boat, a 5 minute job will take around 2 hours, this was no exception. I wired it up and started the engine, and no charge was coming out of the alternator.




There was only one man to call, Kevin from Marine Electrical Services. Kevin has said I could call him any time. I'm sure he had meant it, but on a Sunday afternoon, with a grand prix and an England world cup game? It didn't matter to Kevin, he took the time to understand my babbling about different wires, tried to get to the bottom of why my "amps" light wasn't lighting, helped me test with a bulb looking for voltage that wasn't there. The previous alternator has the negative taken from the casing, the new one didn't. If I was more familiar with the workings of a 12v system, it might have been solved faster. But Kevin, on the end of a phone, managed to talk me through how to go about solving the problems. I really cannot fully express my gratitude for the time he spent on the phone today.

When we started the engine, and the volts went up and the amp needle went off the scale, Kirsty squeeled with delight, I was almost in tears of happiness. Before, we'd run the engine for an hour to get 1% of charge into them. With the engine running for an hour 10% of charge has gone into the batteries now.

If the Smart guage from Merlin wasn't so accurate, we'd probably be non the wiser. Yes the little magic black box has caused us no end of grief, and made us slaves it the battery status, but with out it we'd be blissfully unaware we had a charging problem. Ignorance is bliss, until you're up a loch with no power.

A meal to remember

We were preparing to leave Doune bay in the morning, when the yacht on the mooring behind us, called across "Morning, where's your forum burgee?" Kirsty went scrabbling through our locker with the flags in, and passed it up. The sweet looking double ended, clinker style yacht was owned by Malcolm and Moyra. Malcolm uses the YBW.com forum so knew Pixie and myself from there. He invited us over, but we were on our way out, so we dropped our mooring and motored over for a chat. We exchange cards before heading into Loch Hourn for lunch. Unfortunately tide was against us so we couldn't get to the top of the Loch, but we found a stunning little anchorage, meters from the shore in 10 metres of water. Kirsty made lunch while I tidied up on deck.



Just the sound of a stream running into the sea and the wind gently moving Pixie around. When the sun came out it was really hot, sadly it wasn't out for longer periods.

Kirsty had a snooze and I caught up with blogging. When we had phone reception again Kirsty spoke to her parents and they could come and meet us a day early, so rather than meeting on Monday, I could fit the new alternator on Sunday. It would mean we'd have to get up an hour earlier to make it through the Kyle Rhea with the tide, but getting a day in hand would be great.

From Loch Hourn we motored the short distance across the Sound of Sleat, and picked up a mooring off Ornsay. The mooring was owned by Duisedale House Hotel, a 4 star hotel over looking the sound. We saw it advertised in the "Welcome Anchorages" guide. A free simple magazine with a lot of anchorages and harbours listed, and maps of each makes it a valuabe freebie. The Duisdale's advert caught our eye because the food at the restaurant looked amazing, so we booked a table and a mooring. Yet another positive from going up the inside of Skye.

We took our dinghy ashore in the evening and walked up to the hotel. When we arrived there was a beautiful collection of classic and not so classic BMW's parked infront of the graceful stone hotel.


Once inside we were met by with a friendly welcome by David, who introduced us to the hotels owners who are also sailors, the hotel has it's own yacht, and they had been sailing on her that day.

The hotel has a shower for yachtsmen, and while it was the most expensive we've found, at £4.50 each, we had clean white towels and a spotless shower room to ourself. Worth every penny.

Clean and changed into smarter clothes, we ordered in the bar, and waited for our table.

From the bar we could see Pixie on her mooring, with Knoydart and Gleshiel in the distance. The view was beautiful, the food was exceptional, the wine was perfect. Not cheap, but worth it for an engagement meal for ourselves.

The Big Easy

Sorry there has been an influx of blogging, but up at Loch Harport there was no signal, and we had a lot of sorting out and organising to do.

One of the reasons we decided to go up the inside of Skye was the westerly wind that was forecast, so it was with some dismay that the wind had gone around to the south east when we left Carbost. The Old Inn's facilities were really good, primarily for walkers they are also happy for visiting yachtsmen to use them, so if you find yourself in that part of the world the showers are hot, clean and powerful, and aren't limited by coins or tokens, just pay at the bar and enjoy.

Our time in Carbost was good, and it taught us that we should be taking things easy, rather than rushing around Scotland. With the light wind on the nose we motored south east, and the wind died completely. That day the plan was to visit Loch Scavaig, billed as the best anchorage in Europe by one of the pilot books we had high hopes. We weren't dissapointed. Reading the guide books it sounds like a fearsome place, and I'm sure in bad weather it is. But with no wind it was breath taking. Surrounded by the Cuillins (900 metre high mountains that fall into the sea) on the South west of Skye, it's like being anchored in the caldera of an ancient volcano.



Pixie looked like a piece of white lint on a long black dress against it's vast sides. When we arrived a couple of tour boats were dropping passengers off, so we threaded our way past the rocks and anchored in 4.5 metres of water. No down drafts to swing Pixie's anchor out, like the pilot books warn of, no breeze at all. There were a group of Dutch Drascombe owners in the anchorage. They had spent 5 weeks sailing around every nook and cranny that Skye had to offer. We went ashore and walked up to Loch Coruisk, a fresh water loch that runs into the sea and surrounded by the Cuillins on all sides, it's amazing.
We'd missed the Outer Hebrides, but found another world.

There was still no wind when we left a few hours later. The initial plan was to take it easy and just find and anchorage a few miles to the east, but the weather was so flat, and the sun was breaking out that we decided to head 20 miles around to Doune Bay or Dun Ban Bay depending on where you look.

The going was easy under power, Kirsty cooked a boiled and roasted ham on the way. We were the only yacht on the Sound of Sleat, although the engine was on it was still peaceful. We got there at about 20:30, picked up a free mooring and poured a whisky as the sun was setting beyond Skye.

We didn't make it to the Hebrides, but we have more time to explore other parts of this magical country.

Cheers

A day off

With the alternator being sent today, and the pressure, we'd put ourselves under, now released it was a day off sailing. My mum and dad were due to arrive at around 12, so we had the morning to sort out Pixie. We went ashore to get water and diesel, this took two trips in the dinghy.


While we were sorting out the second trip I saw my parents walking along the rocky beach at Carbost.

Pixie still needed some cleaning and we still had to do a couple of loads of washing, so we arranged to meet up with my partents around 3, and head off to Talisker for a distillery visit.

Afterwards there was just enough time for a quick drink in the Old Inn, before showers and back to the boat to get changed for dinner.



The dinner at The Old Inn was excellent pub food, good food, good quantities, good beer. Good night.

After the rain

Rhum is a beautiful island, the anchorage was quiet and tranquil, a light breeze from the east had all the yachts pointing out to sea. In the distance lights were heading into the harbour. When they arrived they were of a fishing boat, who anchored ahead of us. The gentle breeze flowing into our cabin now carried diesel fumes and the smell of fish! When some things go wrong it can turn out for the best, this wasn't on of those times though. We closed the hatch and went to sleep.

The next morning the fishing boat had gone and the wind was buzzing Wendy (the wind charger) and we were getting gusts of over 20 knots in the harbour. The plan was to leave at 8 ish, but we thought we'd give the wind a bit of time to settle, so by around 9 we were ready to go. I tucked in one reef, in anticipation for the wind to increase. Like most days the sail started off well, a nice breeze on the beam, with the reef we were slighly underpowered, but going nicely. Over the next few hours the wind increased and decreased so we reduced or increased the headsail accordingly. It was overcast and a bit chilly, hard to believe I'd been sailing in shorts and T-shirt the day before. Pixie was making light work, happily sailing along at around 6 knots. I left Kirsty on the helm to get a bit of rest. When I came back on deck things were more or less as I left them. Kirsty and Pixie sailing along nicely together, 18 knots on the beam, the sea had built up a bit, and we'd made good progress. Two minutes later, the wind started to increase, we put a couple of roll in the genoa as Pixie galloped on. Then it started to rain and the wind kept increasing up to 27 knots. We rolled away more sail as Pixie surfed down the front of the waves, her speed was 7-8 knots most of the time. Approaching the entrance to Loch Harport we got rid of the genoa altogether. Luckily we did as we got hit by a 33 knot gust which took Pixie to almost 9 knots. Visibility was reduced to around 500 metres, just the shadows of the cliffs were black beneath the mist and rain.

We entered Loch Harport with the wind on the nose and heavy rain. But we got to a buoy off the Talisker Distillery at Carbost in one piece, so things weren't too bad. Although after we'd dried off we realise that after a week without shore power our battery levels were down to 61%. it might not sound too bad, but it meant that although we'd been living on bread and water in terms of electricity we were still using more than we were generating. Which was strange because we had been running the engine, but it hadn't been charging the batteries as it should. At first I suspected that I had wired up the VSR wrongly. It's instructions weren't very good or clear and some parts were open to interpretation. I phoned Merlin, and they confirmed I'd wired things correctly. The batteries were replaced in Falmouth, so prime suspect number one became the alternator. We went ashore to get some diesel. In spite of the opening times being 9-5:45, we got there at 5 and they were closed, we'd get some in the morning.









While we were ashore Kirsty picked up an answerphone message from my parents, they were due to be in Skye on Wednesday, where would we be? On the way back to the boat I met a bearded gentleman who asked which mooring we were on? It turns out one of the Talisker moorings was surveyed and found that the links in the chain had worn over half way through, this was the one we'd picked up. The only place this information could be found out was on the noticeboard in town, once you'd left your pride and joy on a mooring that "should not be used". Not ideal Talisker, either remove the mooring or put a notice on it. When I checked the notice board another notice had fallen in front of it, being a rural community the notice board was open.

We returned to the boat moved it to another mooring and I phoned Kevin from Marine Electrical Services in Falmouth to see what he could recommend. He talked me through a few tests and it seems our alternator isn't performing. We've ordered another one, but this left us with a delima. How to get it to us.

Our next stop was going to be the Outer Hebrides, but with out being able to charge the batteries from the engine and no shore power for the foreseeable future, we started to look at alternatives.

Get the alternator delivered to the Outer Hebrides, but where? Likewise we could get it delivered to Skye, but we'd have to hang around for it to be delivered, which might set us back. The problem with remote places is that they are erm...remote! So remote that TNT can't do a next day delivery so we wouldn't get anything until Monday. The forecast finally made our minds up Westerly 4 or 5 making a trip to the Hebrides uncomfortable, so we decided to miss out the Hebridies and go up the inside of Skye instead. This way we could get the alternator delivered to Kirsty's parents, meet up with my parents, visit Talisker Distillery, and give us more time to explore mainland Scotland north of Skye. It would mean doubling back on ourselves, but we could visit some of the places we'd missed. It wasn't an easy decision to make, but it would give us more time to relax and enjoy Scotland, something we hadn't felt we'd done enough of.

360° Views

It's been strange not being able to text, tweet or blog for 2 days while we were up at Loch Nevis and Inverie. After the night around the camp fire we headed off on the short motor to Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula. Home of the Old Forge, Britain's remotest pub. I dropped Kirsty's parents off so they could walk around to the camp site to pitch their tent before we set off on a walk. There are 3 Munros around the peninsula, the tops of which were shrouded in cloud, but the height of the mountains behind Inverie was something I still can't get used to. It's quite overwhelming to see these vast lumps of rock in all directions, and the scale is something you can't appreciate through video or photographs. Being a photographer I try to capture the scale, but nothing I can do can really give the impression they give me.

We ate a substantial meal at the Old Forge before returning to Pixie on mirrored waters. It was the longest day, and even at 11 there was plenty of light to take photographs.



On a night like that with awesome scenery around you, there really is nowhere better to be sitting in your cockpit drinking a dram or two.

We were up at 8:30 to wave off Kirsty's parents as they caught the ferry back to Mallaig. We set off for Rhum shortly afterwards. There was little wind when we set off, but then it filled in from the south and we had a beautiful sail. The Isle of Skye took up the horizon to the north, Eigg and Ardnamurchan to the south, to the west and ahead of us was the silhillouette that had dominated the horizon, the vast mountains of Rhum. While astern was the Highlands of Scotland in all her beauty. The sun was out and we had 16 knots slightly forward of the beam. Simply magic.

As we approached the harbour the wind increased to 22 knots, probably caused by Rhum's high mountains, we reefed and kept going. We put the engine on and dropped the sails, found a nice spot to anchor and the the engine died! I re-started it, only for it to die again seconds later. We tried again, but no sooner had the engine turned over than it died. Trying once more, to no avail we dropped the anchor, where we were. The Spade anchor held first time, phew!
Kirsty thought it was that we'd run out of fuel, but the full inspection bowl discounted that theory. I thought it could be muck in the tank, as the engine draws it's fuel from the side of the tank that would have been lowest when we were sailing.

I phoned Nick at Sea Start to get his thoughts. Nick asked about the fuel level, I said we had loads and said the bowl was full, and went on to explain my theory, which Nick agreed sounded possible. He explained how to sort it out. Get to the bottom of the fuel tank, take the pipe off, open the fuel shut off, and see if any fuel comes out, then blow back through the fuel hose to make sure that isn't blocked. So we got everything out of the cockpit locker, I disconnected the engine battery I'd installed so I could get better access.

In the process I looked at the sight gauge on the fuel tank. The pipe is cloudy, but even so I couldn't see a level, so I took the top off and blew through it....No sound of bubbles, no sign of fuel. I put 20 litres in the tank and could see the level on the sight tube. Kirsty was right. We'd run out of fuel!

We only have a sight gauge, so we have to keep a note of the engine hours in the log, and guess. I guessed wrongly and we hadn't been adding the engine hours we'd been using to charge the batteries. All my fault, I am a wally!

In the middle of nowhere

With the forecast predicting fives and sixes we took some time out from sailing to spend it with Kirsty's parents and explore some of the immense scenery around Arisaig. A few miles up the road is Loch Morar, a fresh water loch that runs into a picturesque river, the loch has 500 metre peaks surrounding it. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing, but the scenery is breathtaking. We walked along the northern shore for almost 3 miles before finding a sheltered pebble beach to stop for lunch of roast chicken and carrot cake.

The walk back was just as scenic, and having learnt our lesson from the previous day we stayed ashore and showered before going out that the evening.

Today we left Arisaig to pick up Kisty's parents in Mallaig before heding up Loch Nevis. We'd had strong wind in Arisaig, so I'd let 45 metres of chain out. It was a good idea at the time but later when the windlass has to pull up all the chain which, 40 metres of which is now covered in a thick foul smelling tar like mud, the idea had lost its sparkle. Bucket after bucket of water was washed over the chain, the deck, the chain and the deck, but still black water, or patches of mud would appear on deck and spread. The Scottish mud is like Essex mud, but black. It doesn't just stick to the chain, it coats it, so you can't see the chain links, just a line of thick black ooze coming over the bow roller, coating everything in and around its path. Eventually the anchor appeared and we were able to get on our way. We got to Mallaig about 12:30 and picked up Kirsty's parents who were on the quay waiting for us. Once on board we headed out past Inverie and up through the narrows to inner Loch Nevis. I was going to phone my dad to wish him happy fathers day, but when I picked up my phone I had no service. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the post in Arisaig left at 15:30 on Friday, so the card I posted at 16:30 won't have left until 12:00 on Saturday. It should arrive on Monday. I'm sure my dad will understand.

Kirsty's parents like camping so they brought their tent to stay in tonight. They often walk into the wilderness for days at a time, and the idea of taking Pixie somewhere they haven't walked to was too good an opportunity to miss. We motored the length of the inner loch looking for a good campsite and anchorage, and found somewhere shallow enough to anchor near a secluded beach. One of the problems with the loch is that it has steep sides, so finding a spot of between 5 and 10 metres deep that doesn't drop away to 20 or 30 within 5 metres from that spot was an interesting task. Add to that the need to pitch a tent nearby and the choices limited themselves to one place. And what a great spot it was. We're the only yacht in the inner loch. In the end we laid a kedge anchor from the stern to stop Pixie swinging into rocks or the shore.



The evening was spent around a fire, food was cooked on disposable barbarcues, just the crackle of burning seaweed echoing off the hills broke the silence. Seals played in the water by Sprite our tender, and midges flew around us. Liberal application of Expedition 50 seemed to stop them biting. It was only after the breeze died that they became a problem. By 11pm it was still light, but we had all had enough to drink, so Kirsty and I came back to Pixie, and left the midges and Kirsty's parents alone together.


The midges don't seem to have followed us out to Pixie, although she is quite close to the shore. We'll see what the bites are like tomorrow.

A day out to remember

Well it's been a couple of days to remember, yesterday I was on a mission. When I first met Kirsty I remember her saying that her favourite film was Local Hero. A film based in Scotland, in which I remember seeing the beautiful beach that an American oil company wanted to buy and turn into a big refinery. The only problem was Ben. He owned the beach, and it wasn't for sale. It was a beautiful beach, white sands, clear sea, stunning views of Rhum, Eigg, Skye. Magic.

In planning this trip, we made sure we would visit Arisaig, 7 miles from Ben's beach. So where better to propose?

Only problem was how to get there. 7 mile walk anyone?

Being remote Scotland, it has the same regular bus service as rural Cornwall, two buses a day, if you happen to be there on the right day.

In spite of Kirsty graduating with a masters from Oxford, the time table perplexed us both. Taxi? From where? OK, lets take the train. Arisaig has the most westerly station in Britain and Ben's beach is only one stop and a walk away.

We got to the station to at 13:58 only to find the train left at 13:54. Or should have left, there was another woman waiting for a train so we stood around, not knowing whether we were 2 hours early for the next train, or the 13:54 was late. It was 14:03, when the train rolled into view. So far so good.

The return train was at 16:15. This gave us two hours to get there and back, I looked at the map and it looked possible. We walked along a hot road though rugged scenery for 50 minutes, and got to the beach just in time to leave to get the train back. The view was stunning. Bright yellow broom flowers against a deep blue cloudless sky, walking on soft white sand towards a beach that I'd only ever seen on a film. I didn't know what to expect, would it be busy, cheesy or full of sunburnt England fans? Thankfully not.

The effort to get there was worth it. The most beautiful view from a beach that I can remember. I've been to the Seychelles but the view from "Ben's Beach" was stunning, it might not have palm trees and Coco de mer on it's shores but Ben's beach is one of the most stunning beaches I've been to.

We weren't going to make the train, but we'd find another way of getting back. Kirsty's parents were coming to visit, maybe they could pick us up.



We sat on rocks on the corner of the beach looking out over the Sound of Sleat. We ate our sandwiches, and I was trying to think of an excuse to take a piece of foil out of my wallet to make into a ring. Let me explain...I was using a foil ring because Kirsty had said "A ring isn't important, it can be made out of foil, if you mean it" So when Kirsty offered me a Kit Kat, I had the foil I needed, I swiftly scoffed the Kit Kat and played with the foil, hoping Kirsty wouldn't see or guess what I was up to. With the ring shaped foil ready for the moment Kirsty started packing up the stuff. It was then I asked her. She said "Are you being serious?" a chance I took with a foil ring I suppose. I reassured her I was, and she said "yes".


The plan is to get to Orkney and buy Kirsty a Orcadian ring. Lucky Duck is looking after the foil ring for the moment.

We walked along to the next few beaches, until returning to Ben's beach to meet up with Kirsty's parents and tell them the good news. All four of us went back to Arisaig and had a drink to celebrate. Kirsty and I headed back to Pixie to get changed for dinner, but the forecast of 4 or 5 occasionally force 6 was actually a force 7 with gusts up to 38 knots. Kirsty grabbed a lift with a kind man with a RIB to get a load of supplies back to Pixie, I took Sprite our tender back. It was very rough in the harbour for a little tender, and too rough to go back into the wind for dinner, so that was postponed until tonight.

A day full of surprises

It has been an eventful couple of days. We did the right thing heading for Arisaig when we did. From zero wind on Thursday we went to a good force 5 or 6 on Friday. We had to anchor a long way from the jetty so got just a little wet on the dinghy ride ashore. We were both keen to visit the beach at Camusdarach. This beach featured in the famous Scottish film Local Hero and I also spent a memorable family holiday there 19 years ago. Local Hero is my favourite film and I have subjected Graham to it a number of times since we met! It wasn't that easy to get there. The 7 mile walk was a little too long than we were willing to attempt and the bus timetable was pretty confusing but we did ascertain that there would be no buses for the rest of the day.




So we opted for the train. We had just missed a scheduled train but it was 10 minutes late so we were in luck. After arriving in Morar it was about a 50 minute walk to the beach. When we got there it was just as I remembered if not a little windier. We were both starving so we sat on the rocks and ate our sandwiches. I had one Twix and one Kit Kat so I gave Graham the choice. He opted for the Kit Kat. As we got up to leave Graham stopped me. He had something sparkly in hand which he held out as he said "Kirsty, will you marry me?" I tried out the ring for size first (if you've not guessed already it was made out of the Kit Kat wrapper) and then gave my answer. Naturally it was yes. The setting was perfect and Graham had thought it all through perfectly. That's just why I love him.
About 30 minutes later my parents arrived at the beach so we told them our news. They were delighted. The plan was to go for dinner in Arisaig but the wind was not playing ball. We headed back to the boat to drop a few things off (more whisky etc) but the waves were bordering on dangerous for our little tender. We had 38 knots at one point. Occasional force 6 it was not. Dinner was off and we opted to stay on Pixie. So our celebratory dinner was leftover curry, cheese and biscuits and trifle. It was lovely. The posh meal has been postponed until tonight. Watch this space for a review.

PS I love you Graham and can't wait to be your wife


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The wild west

Today we woke to grey skies and more fog. We had a dilemma. Our plan had been to spend the night in Tobermory then head to Loch Moidart tomorrow. But the forecast for Friday was looking rather more windy than we wanted so we decided to seize the moment of calm and head for Ardnamurchan Point - the most westerly point on mainland Britain. After a brief stop in Tobermory to pick up supplies off we went. Despite a forecast of 4-5 there was no wind at all, just oily flat sea. A perfect day for spotting whales I told Graham. Ten seconds later we spotted two basking sharks each about 6 or 7 metres in length. The biggest fish you'll find in our waters.

We took the engine out of gear and bobbed around with them for a while until they gracefully moved on. A short while later Graham saw some bottlenose dolphins in the bow wave of another boat. They came over to check us out. There were four in total but sadly they didn't stick around. Later we saw a whale, probably a minke, but it was in the distance. Hopefully we'll see more wildlife like that in the next few weeks.




We are now anchored in Arisaig where we plan to spend a couple of days. My parents are heading up to meet us tomorrow and we'll spend a few days exploring together. Graham is cooking up a curry which smells delicious and I'm going to sign off and open a bottle of red. Salut!


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Time to go north?

This morning for a change we had a bit of fog.




The good news is that the Garmin wind sensor seems to have been playing a joke on us. It worked faultlessly this morning on the way from Loch Drambuie to Tobermory. It's not far but we're going to wait here for a favorable tide, and or favorable wind.

On the way into Tobermory we saw a couple leaving who we met on the refueling berth in Falmouth marina.

Now we're in Tobermory it looks like the weather is brightening up.

Under a cloud

We had a lazy start today (16th) and by the time we got out of bed around 9ish most of the other boats in the anchorage had left. The were probably heading off to the West coast of Mull. The forecast didn't look great for them, and there are north or north westerlies forecast for the next few days, we decided to head off to Loch Sunart when the tide went north at around 3 this afternoon. So we had the morning to waste. I actually managed to sit down, relax and read Yachting Monthly for a while, I read about a couple's trip across the Pacific, which put our 28 hour trip from Newlyn into perspective.

We then went ashore to see the "Bridge across the Atlantic" an impressivly solid stone bridge that links the island of Seil to mainland Scotland.



It is possible to get a boat under there, not one like Pixie, but something with a shallow draft and a mast that can be lowered...or a motor boat.

The weather was a bit drizzly and foggy in the distance, but we thought we'd walk the 2km along the road to the shop. First mistake was thinking the road was quiet, second mistake was thinking it was only 2 km. The road was quite busy for a single lane road, with cars coming and going quickly in both directions. We gave up on the shop after walking over two miles down the road, and eventually ran out of time, so we headed back to Pixie as the weather began to warm up.

We retrieved the anchor, (the Lewmar electric windlass is working wonders, and saving my back!) and headed off out into the Firth or Lorn, to our left a big fog bank was rolling in, but it looked to be dispersing. Looks can be deceptive. It wasn't. About a mile from the anchorage the fog surrounded us. On with the Sea~me, on with the radar and nav lights. Initally there was enough wind to sail, and as we were sailing we noticed our usually well behaved Garmin wind sensor started acting up. It stops sending the wind data briefly every couple of minutes or less. I had a look at all the wiring, but couldn't see anything wrong. It seems that as soon as one problem is sorted, another one is waiting to take its place. There is no reason for the wind sensor to act up, it's worked faultlessly since I installed it last year. It chooses now, just when we've finally fixed our engine trouble to act up? Its timing is unbelievable. It's not essential, but it's handy to have.

Anyway the fog lifted as we approached the coast of Mull, and the tide took us nicely up the Sound of Mull, well the tide and the engine as the wind had died, and what wind there was, was funneling down the sound on the nose. Looking behind us I could see the fog had cleared and had been replaced by bright sunshine, the hills and moutains were glowing. Unfortunately that was behind us. Where we were, it was grey, cold and cloudy. And it stayed that way most of the way up the Sound of Mull. Only as we approached Ardnamurchan and Loch Sunart did the sun break through from the west, as we turned east.



We've found a beautifully quiet spot in Loch Drumbuie for the night, let's hope the sun shines on us tomorrow.

Peace and quiet

One of the advantages of Scotland is its remoteness. This is a double edged sword. It's great when you want peace and quiet, but not so good when you want to let your family and friends know your safe.



Take this afternoon, we had a relaxing sail from the pretty Ardfern Marina (which is a wonderful place to have engine trouble, as the staff at the Ardfern Yacht Centre are great) past the notorious Corryvreckan and up the Sound of Luing to the anchorage we're in tonight, Puilladobhrain. Don't try to say it, I tried, but it didn't work. As quiet an anchorage you could wish for, but could I text? Could I ever! As Pixie gentle swung on her anchor she would swing though an area where I could get signal. Unfortunately that area was about 1 metre wide, and Pixie would swing though that metre quicker than I could unlock my phone and send a text to Twitter. I could get signal, unlock my phone, then nothing. I could start sending a text, only for the signal to drop out half way through. Standing in the cockpit didn't work, neither did standing on the coachroof, on tiptoes, with my arm in the air. I contemplated hoisting my phone to the top of the mast, until I realised I would have to go with it to press the buttons, and Kirsty was reading and relaxing at the time. A couple of hours after we arrived I was able to send a text.

The sail round was great, coming out of the Sound of Luing and seeing the height of Mull across the Firth of Lorn was incredible, nothing prepared me for the height and topography of the landscape ahead. I wanted to tell the world, well you, how great it was. The only person I could tell was Kirsty and she was sitting smiling beside me, seeing it for herself. I want to share this anchorage, but you'll have to wait because I can't send this blog.

This anchorage is only a few miles from Oban, but we might as well be on the moon with the amount of telephone reception we both have on two different networks. The anchorage is quiet noise wise, with the exception of some excitable Oyster Catchers, and an RAF Tornado which was flying so low I could see the pilot who looked close enough to remove the masthead gear of one of the larger boats in the here. But by Scottish standards with 12 yachts here it's one of the busiest anchorages on the west coast, but it's calm and beautiful, which is why it's so "popular".

A quick pic

Motoring out of Loch Craignish

What a difference a day makes - Part deux

Where do I start? Today the forecast was saying variable 3-4 mainly northery. So with that in mind, and our luck so far, I made the decision that it would translate as, at least a 4 on the nose, wind against tide going up the Sound of Luing. Not today thank you, we'll wait a day for the Azores High to arrive on Tuesday. So we did the washing up, had coffee, filled the water tanks of Pixie and topped up our spare fuel cans. There was still no sign of any wind, in fact the loch was like a mirror. There were also another couple of 30 odd footers going, so we made the decision to go for it as well. The sun was shining, there was no wind, the forecast was for variable after all. So we got Pixie ready, Kirsty reversed her out of the berth. Increased speed astern to get steerage from the berth, put her in neutral before putting her ahead to spin her around, then the engine cut out. We were now going backwards towards a line of boats with no way of stopping. I went below and re started the engine with just enough time to avoid a crunch.

Thinking it was a one off we motored out into the loch, only for the engine to start labouring again. My heart sank. I increased the revs, but there was no change in the engine note, then it slowed and stopped. Again we re started it, but the engine was not happy, so we returned back to Ardfern Marina.

Kirsty went to seek help from the yard and spoke to the manager, Bob. Although they were very busy Bob said he would send someone down when he could. In the mean time I replaced the drinking water filter and also cleaned the sea water strainer for the engine. It was while I was doing this I noticed our one of the tubes for our stern gland oil reservoir was weeping oil. The reservoir holds the oil that it used in the seal where the propeller shaft goes from the inside of the boat to the outside. The oil seal stop the sea water coming into the boat. The seal has always had a thirst for oil, but I could never work out why, until today when I could see the inspection pipe was cracked and was leaking oil. I replaced the pipe, so hopefully it will use less oil now.

Around 4 ish Steven came down and had a look at the engine, he re-bled it, and in the process noticed our fuel filter assembly wasn't fitting together exactly as it should, so he replaced the fitting, applied some gunk to all the screw threads, and so far it seems to have worked, we took Pixie out for a quick spin around the end of the Loch and everything seems (fingers crossed) to be working as it should.

Tonight Kirsty cooked some very tasty lamb sausages that we bought in Tayvallich. One of the downsides of cruising, is you never find out how good food is until you cook it, usually a day or two later when it's too late to buy some more. Luck was on our side as it seems the great local store here in Ardfern, seem to have the same supplier of meat. We'll be going there for som sausages, tomorrow before we set off.

Engine failure

Despite the weather being perfect today we ain't going anywhere. As we set off this morning the engine cut out. Not what you want in a busy marina. We thought at first that it might just be a fluke so restarted it and motored out of the marina. But it happened again and we headed back in. We can't work out what the problem is, maybe a blockage in the fuel system or even a dodgy fuel pump. It's time to consult the experts. We spoke to Bob the yard manager and despite being incredibly busy he is going to get someone to have a look at it for us. So for now it's a waiting game.
It is frustrating for both of us but we're trying to stay positive. At least the sun is shining and the view is good.



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What a difference a day makes

We woke today at 0530 to check the weather forecast. It wasn't ideal for heading north to Mull so we went back to sleep. After a relaxed breakfast we set off for Ardfern. It's only a 20 mile trip and puts us in a better position for getting out of one of the tidal gates and then north. For once the wind goddess was smiling on us and we had a lovely sail up here, even managing to avoid the rain showers. It's really nice not to have to race to get somewhere. Even when the wind dropped we could afford to glide along at 4 knots rather than having to put the engine on. That is just as well really as once again we seem to have a blocked primary fuel filter. Graham is replacing it as I type.
We arrived at Ardfern at about 1500 and paid a visit to the chandlery to replace the winch handle (success) and vent (no success) that were lost to Neptune. We then visited the local shop which was incredibly well stocked with things you might actually want to buy rather than have to buy out of necessity. They even had my favourite biscuits called Flips which I very rarely find anywhere. I am now sitting in the sun writing this while waiting for the washing machine to become free. Alas our work is never done...




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And relax

Ok my Orange phone has no service, so I've borrowed Kirsty's phone. Orange has been good until now, but we're up Loch Sween and radio reception is poor, and Orange is non existant. But here I am.

Kirsty and I have been talking and there have been days when it hasn't felt like a holiday. Nothing to do with us or our relationship, that's stronger than ever, no it's more to do with the trip. It will be no good beating our way around Scotland and not enjoying it, yesterday we decided that if the wind is strong, like the mention of a force 6, it usually turns out to be worse, then we'll probably stay where we are. If it's on the nose, it's not fun, and while we and Pixie can take those conditions, we don't have to do anything. It's our three months and we've made it this far. Every time it blows up, things get wet and something goes over the side, I don't want it to be either of us, it could just be the little plastic spinny things that protect the sail, but yesterday I couldn't unscrew the foredeck vent which is well protected by the baby stay. Not wanting to force it and break the fitting, I left it, and during a tack yesterday, in 26 knots of wind, a genoa sheet must have caught it because it's no longer there.

The other day on the way across from Rathlin I lost a winch handle over the side, it floats, but there was no way we were going back for it, so if anyone in America finds a blue floating winch handle, please send it back for my attention to Yachting Monthly!

All these things are small but they still cost money and aren't easy to replace. Banging our way to windward might achieve our goal of sailing around Scotland, but if Pixie falls apart in the process and we're not enjoying ourselves then what is the point? We want this to be a good experience.

So rather than saying we have to be at certain aces on certain days, we're going to see how we get on. Hopefully we'll still achieve our goal of getting to Orkney, but if we don't we won't see it as a failiure.

At the moment we can't get to Mull because the wind is coming from the North, and because of the big tides that we need with us the seas would be rough, and in some parts dangerous to attempt the passage, and even though we want to go, it makes no sense to try.

All this came about after our trip yesterday from Gigha up here to Loch Sween and the stunning Fairy Isles. The wind was from the north west and we wanted to go north. The forecast in the morning said north west backing west 4 to 5 occasionally 6. Unfortunately we went out in the morning to walk around the Achamore Gardens, though damp with rain and drizzle, the were still very colourful and enchanting. The next forecast we heard was on the way up to Loch Sween, North west 5 to 6. Yes it was a 6 most of the time for us. But it would blow to a 5, go down to 10 knots, and 5 mins later it would be blowing a constant 28 knots, then go down to 26 and stay there. A 20 mile trip turns out to be 30 with wind against tide. No fun, and not why we wanted to come here.

Once anchored in the Fairy Isles though we realised why were here, it was for the scenery, not to say we've sailed here there and everywhere.

So this morning we woke up late, got up, looked out of the saloon as a seal bobbed by in the morning sunshine. We listened to Johnathan Ross before getting into Sprite, our little red tender, and heading off into the Fairy Isles to explore where Pixie can't. It was a magical little place. This afternoon was spent subathing before the short motor to Tayvallich. A pretty little town 15 mins motor away, and it took all of those 15 mins to wash the tar like mud off the anchor and foredeck. The stuff was black and gooey, and only rivals sixaflex for it's ability to get everywhere! Horrid, horrid stuff!



We're attached to a buoy in Tayvallich, and very nice it is too.



- Posted by Graham using Kirsty's iPhone

There be fairies here

Yesterday we once again fell foul of the Scottish weather. The forecast said occasionally 6 from the north west or west. So off we went. And again it was on the nose and wad giving rise to much larger waves than we anticipated. A 4 hour sail turned into a 6 hour sail so we didn't arrive at our destination until 2100. We are in a little anchorage in a place called the Fairy Isles in Loch Sween. It is a beautiful spot surrounded by forest. The forecast for tomorrow is not looking good so we plan to explore this area for a couple of days before moving on. More updates to follow when mobile signal allows.


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An Islay convert

When Graham and I first met we quickly established that we had a joint love of sailing and whisky. But there was one important point of difference - I like Islay whisky and Graham does not. So it was much to my surprise that he managed to consume not one but six of Laguvulin's finest during today's tour.



It was an excellent tour. Everyone who showed us around was local to Islay and had whisky in their blood for generations. It is a huge industry here, contributing £800 million in taxes to the UK government. Not bad for one island. We were made extremely welcome, even using the free mooring in the bay. In the afternoon we took the warehouse tour where Ian, who has worked for the distillery for 40 years, gave us the guided tour of the whisky from the raw spirit straight from the still to a 44 year old that was put in the barrel in 1966 - the year that England robbed the world cup (Ian's words not mine). I asked Ian what the best dram he had ever tasted was. He replied "I usually find that the best dram is the free one". A man after my own heart. We had a great time. The tour was excellent value for money and really worthwhile.
At lunch time we took a walk to the nearby Laphroig distillery. On the way we saw a golden eagle. She was sitting in the top of a tree then swooped down on some prey - probably a ground nesting bird - but was promptly chased away some some rather brave parent birds.
It was a fantastic day and after some very tough sails it really felt like a holiday. I hadn't been to Islay before but I'll definitely come back.
It is now a beautiful evening and we're on our way to the island of Gigha, ETA 1930.


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The things we do for whisky

That was a truely awful trip, the forecast was NE 4 or 5 occassionally 6. What it should have said was NE 6, occassionally 5. Needless to say if it had said that we would have happily stayed and explored Rathlin. In the forecast for the Mull of Kintyre it just said 4 or 5, which I very much doubt is correct as it's only 15 miles away. So two sea area forecasts both of them wrong. Luckily for us Pixie is a solid old boat that could take anything the weather threw at her today, but there are many boats out there that couldn't.

Lulled into a false sense of security of the weather forecast we got up for a shower, only to find the harbour had a power cut. I thought it was just the pontoon that had been left powerless, but when the electronic lock on the showers showed no sign of life, we went back to Pixie and got ready to go. We left Rathlin at 8:30 to catch the last of the flood to clear Rathlin and the overfalls. once we cleared the south of the island we headed north into the wind which was a good force 5, but we were slowed down by the flood, this meant by the time we got to the overfalls the wind had increased and the tide was ebbing north over them. Wind against tide and overfalls are not the place for faint hearted, or us, but we were there and no one was going get us out of the situation we found ourselves in. The MacDonnell Race was as uncomfortable and confused. Walls of water the size of minibuses would march relentlessly towards us, waves were breaking around us, it wasn't a nice place to be. We were motorsailing into the wind, but the waves were too much to motor directly into them, so we had to tack out and back to make headway. This in turn took us longer than we had planned, so when we came to cross the traffic separation scheme (which we have to cross at right angles) the tide was running faster, and this took us much further west than we were hoping. All this mounted up to leave us almost directly down wind, and down tide from Islay in a force 6. It was a long rough slog up wind and our eta kept getting later and later. We were motor sailing in a steady 27 knots of true wind, making our apparent wind over 30 knots. The engine kept Pixie pointing closer to the wind and reduced the speed she lost as her bow pointed skywards, before parting the sea as she came down. Some of the waves were over 3 metres, the sort of wave that you get to the top of, not knowing what is on the other side of them. Most of the time there is just a hole that Pixie would fall into, pulling the helm would reduce the impact, but not reduce their size.

Our eta at Islay was 13:30 we finally got here at 15:30, two hours later than planned.

The entrance to Lagavulin bay is tight, in fact on our chartplotter the bay is made of red hatched lines, lines that are reserved for dangerous rocks. The entrance is less than 40ft wide and has rocks on either side. But once in it's perfectly sheltered.

We're currently on a mooring buoy less than 100 metres from Lagavulin Distillery. We went ashore and booked in for a tour and a warehouse tasting tomorrow. Then we walked around to the ruins of Dunyveg Castle which guards the entrance and was used by the Lords of the Isles around the 12th Century.





The wind has dropped right off and it's turning into a very plesant evening. We might even eat on deck tonight, if all the detritus surrounding me dries off in time.

We've arrived in Scotland at last. 18 days after leaving the Solent. Now we can begin to relax, and after a sail like today it hasn't come a minute too soon.

The day we went to Bangor

With the problems of the previous day, neither Kirsty or myself could face leaving Adrglass very early the next morning, so early that after replacing the fuel filter and getting the rope off the prop I wouldn’t have actually been ashore in Northern Island! So we stayed in Ardglass for the day and took the opportunity to do some washing and drying, the first load went well, the second load was less successful, it didn’t seem to have spun properly, and no amount of time in the tumble dryer would sort things out.

One of our luxuries on board is a dehumidifier, we bought it along because there is nothing worse than a damp wet boat, and when we are in a marina we have the power to use it. The dehumidifier also has a laundry setting. I wasn’t too optimistic that it would dry all of our washing hung on lines running back and forth across the saloon like a commercial laundry, but when we got up at 4 the next morning all of it was dry!

Because of the tides up to Bangor and through the Copeland Islands we had to leave at 4:30am. The sun was just rising as we untied Pixie, started the engine and motored off. Quietly leaving I felt we were in the middle of some criminal act, but I don’t like to desturb other boat owners who are soundly sleeping, just because we have to catch the tide.

The trip from Ardglass to Bangor was a motor all the way, there was no wind, it was like a mill pond. well a millpond with mountains in the distance and seabirds all around us. It was beautiful being on the water with no one else around, just the sun lighting the hills around Strangford Lough

On the way up the coast I thought I could see land in the distance. I could! Could it be Scotland? It seemed where Scotland should have been from my memory of the charts, Scotland! Just last week we were in Cornwall, Now I’m looking at Scotland. It wasn’t until I looked at the chartplotter I realised it was the Isle of Man, and little deflated I went back to helming.

A few hours later we did actually see the Mull of Galloway, 16 days from Gosport and we’d seen where we would spending the next few months.

We got to Bangor just before midday and refuelled, before collecting the package Crusader had sent with the bits from our mainsail. They even kindly sent an new mast gate (which we didn’t really need but heads of the screws in our mast gate, had worn so it was a nice surprise) and they also sent some slides, which was just as well because the slide we have don’t fit the new Bainbridge batten screws. Every thing was going well until I thought one of the screws could do and extra ½ a turn. I took out the pin, tightened it, and in the process of putting it back together the spring of the batten caught me out and half of the bracket that hold the pin to the slide made a break for it, and jumped over the side, into Bangor Marina.

The guys at Bangor Marina were very helpful, and we used one of the advantages of being members of The Cruising Association, their HLRs. HLRs are Honorary Local Representatives, who are members of the Cruising Association and live locally in many ports, they act as local contact to help visiting cruising yachtmen sort out any problems. Our first problem was to try to find a replacement autopilot, and then after dropping the bits over the side to get a sail maker, Peter Lyons is the contact in Bangor, and he happened to be working on his boat in Bangor Marina when we called, so we popped around to see him. Peter was in the middle of removing rotten wood from his yacht, but took time out to speak to us and give us advice from where to buy things to contacts to the best time to leave to get to Rathlin Island. He was a great help.

Luckily I found a shackle that will do the job until I can get another replacement.

We then had a walk up to Bangor Auto Supplies and got a couple of extra fuel filters, these cost us a grand total of £2.40 each, so we bought a couple.

We stopped off and did some shopping on the way back and bought a couple of big steaks. The butcher cut them for us and I might have gone a bit over the top on the thickness, but they were very tasty

All the fun of the fair

What a day yesterday turned out to be. It started off nicely when we motored out of Howth, put the sails up and headed north. We even managed about an hour or so under the cruising chute, but then the wind died. It wasn't too bad, the sun was shining, and it was hot in the cockpit with no wind.

Then came the fog, with it the temperature dropped. Visibility came and went, but the wind never returned. The highlight of the day was a visit by a pigeon who came out of nowhere and tried to land on Pixie.



Unfortunately landing on Pixie proved a bit of a struggle, first it slipped off one of the spreaders, then went up to the mast head but had to share space with our mast head instruments which didn't go down well and in the end managed to land on the genoa sheet, before leaving, circling Pixie a few times before managing to land on a spreader. Clearly its perch of choice.

It stayed up there for four hours before leaving us to it.

Since we crossed to Ireland the engine hasn't quite been itself. Occasionally the engine would labour, before returning to normal revs. This was only happening every now and again, but over today it was happening several times a minute, and threatening to stop.

Not great when there was no wind, and fog. Because of the risk of fog I didn't want want to change the filter, so I contacted Nick Eales at Sea Start to see what he'd advise. He said reduce the revs, slow down so the engine wasn't needing so much fuel. If it did stop I might have to replace the filter, but the engine was still going.

While we were motoring slowly, it sounded like we caught something around the prop, but I couldn't see anything over the side so I put the engine in forwards, then reverse, then forwards again, and things seemed to improve.

Then the fog really came down, visibility was down to less than 1/2 a mile, we carried on towards Ardglass.



The engine kept going, but every time it laboured, I was expecting it to stop. And so when we got to within 0.4 miles from Adrglass we still couldn't see land, it wasn't until we were 1/4 of a mile from the harbour that we could make out the church spire shrouded in fog, and the dark shadow of rocks. Pixie is tooled up when it comes to electronics. It might seem like like overkill, but having the chartplotter, AIS, radar and active radar reflector, all of them earnt their place on board today. We reduced speed as we approached the harbour. As we enetered the short channel to the marina I put the engine in tickover, it carried on for a second or two before stopping. Kirsty re started the engine and if I took the engine out of gear I had to keep the revs up, before putting it in gear. It made maneouvering interesting, to say the least. Once in the berth I put the engine in neutral, and it promptly died. Once tied up I replaced the primary fuel filter, it took about 45 mins to replace and bleed the fuel system. With that finished I looked at the prop and could see some rope around it. Ten minutes with a boat hook over the side and I got it all off.



We were going to go to Bangor in Northern Ireland (not Wales) today, but after the trials of yesterday, we were too tired to get up at 5:30 to catch the tide, so we're having the day off in Ardglass.

Back in UK waters

This is what sailing is all about. Forget that saying about standing in the rain ripping up £20 notes. We are currently motoring along the Irish East coast in fog. And the engine is not happy either. We suspect that in the crossing to Ireland some gunge in the fuel tank was stirred up and it has now clogged the fuel filter. The result is that every few minutes the engine revs decrease as it is starved of fuel, then it seems to recover again. We are about 15 miles from our destination of Ardglass in Northern Ireland. Fingers crossed the engine holds out until then, otherwise we'll have to try and repair it in the open sea. Luckily, apart from the fog, the conditions are good.

Last night we had a very nice meal at Findlater in Howth, just North of Dublin. This time the steak was up to scratch and the service was good. Not pretentious at all. The marina was more like you'd expect in the Solent and lacked the charm of the last few places we have stayed. But it was good to get a nice shower and do some laundry. This morning we awoke to a blue sky. We left the marina just after 0730 BST and quickly got under way with the cruising chute up. After a couple of hours the wind dropped and our progress was slow so we stuck the engine on. We did have a good couple of sun bathing hours before the fog patches set in. And following the flight of the bumblebees we now have a new hitchhiker. A racing pigeon has been sitting on the mast spreaders for the last few hours. I think he is hoping the fog will clear and we'll sight land soon. I am not sure he has found his sea legs yet. He's probably wishing he'd picked a different boat!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A little bit more like it

Today's sail was the sort of sail we had been waiting for, almost every day so far we've had to do at leat an hour or so motoring, some times more. Today however we managed to sail from one port to another, and at a good speed too.

We left Arklow at 10:00 and had the sails working by 10:10. We had breakfast while doing around 4 knots. Then we got out the cruising chute, and our speed went up to 6 knots, and stayed there until we had to change course and the wind went behind us. So for the first time we were able to get the spinnaker out, in all its aging rainbow glory. This big rainbow coloured sail helps us go down wind, and to day it worked perfectly. We were able to keep it flying for 3 hours up Irelands beautiful east coast. It made light going of the southerly wind. Eventually the wind increased and we had to get it down. One of the advantages of our Garmin instruments is that it’s possible to set alarms for different things, today I was using one for a high windspeed. When sailing down wind it’s easy to not realise the wind speed is increasing because it feels less than it is because we were gong down wind. I’d set the alarm to 18 knots, which isn’t that high, but it gives us warning that the wind is increasing and we should think about getting it down.









This was the first time we’d had the spinnaker up on Pixie, and so it was also the first time we had to get it down. It’s different when you’re racing and you have many hands to help you, on Pixie there is just Kirsty and myself, we have a tiller pilot, but after that took a tumble it’s just the two of us now.

I explained what should happen, Kirsty let the guy off, the idea was that it would run free out of the pole. I pulled in on the sheet. I started pulling in on the sheet and Kirsty went to release the halyard, which holds the sail up. At some point the guy managed to snag itself and stop going out. I was pulling in on the sheet when the spinnaker filled. All that was holding the weight of a full spinnaker was the halyard, the snagged guy and my hand, I felt the tension and let go. Unfortunately I didn’t let go quick enough and got a rope burn across my hand, not a bad one, but it hurt none the less.

With the guy snagged and the sheet blowing away downwind, I went to the bow and grabbed the guy and pulled it in by the armful. Kirsty let off the halyard and the sail was bundled below. Not the way it should have gone, but we got in down in one piece, and kept it out of the water.

My next silly move came when I wanted to cool my hand down. Having replaced the spinnaker with the genoa and poled it out we were doing a deceptively fast 6 knots.

I say deceptively fast, because I didn’t realise we were travelling that fast when I threw the bucket over the side. I did however realise a before the bucket hit the water, probably a fraction of a second before it hit the water. Before I could pull the bucket back it filled with water and pulled me back the length of the cockpit, only my reluctance to throw away money stopped me letting go of it. I was struggling not to either be pulled over the side or let go. In the end Kirsty turned Pixie off course and I was able to pull the bucket back on.

The water was refreshing and it cooled my hand down nicely

The rest of the sail to Howth was lovely, and sailing up through Dublin bay with the sun shining, making good progress, was memorable.

Howth marina is run by the sailing club, and the facilities were good.

Howth harbour

Turning the corner

First off, apologies for the lack of blogs, although I can text twitter I haven't set up our blog to text updates. Now we're in a foreign country it costs us for overseas roaming on our iPhones, so to avoid any unpleasant surprises we can only blog when we get to a WiFi zone.

We could get WiFi reception in the harbour masters office in Kilmore Quay, but we couldn't find any in Arklow.

We left Kilmore at 7:45 and had to motor sail into the wind toward Carnsore Point at the South East corner of this beautiful country. Once around the corner we were able to sail.

We had a visit from a Naval Patrol Boat, who radioed us up and asked us lots of details, from our names and addresses to Pixie's vital statistics. Luckily our infromation was understood, and my memory of phonetic alphabet didn't let me down. The fun started as the Naval Patrol Vessel then contact a boat sailing astern of us. Being nosey, we thought we'd listen in. It turns out they were Norweign. Picture the scene of a Norweign trying to phoneticly spell his name and his address with ø's gallore. I felt for both the operator who was having to take down this information, as well as the poor Norweign, for having to understand a strong Irish accent, and spell his and his crews names and their addresses. You could almost hear the form being torn up as the Naval Patrol Radio Operator was loosing the will to live.

The rest of the trip to Arklow started off well, the wind went round and we were able to get out the cruising chute...until the wind died and we were left no option but to motor the rest of the way.









Arklow was a prettly little place to stay the night, but a walk into the town reminded us about something we hadn't been missing. The motor car.

The bridge over the Avoca River is to us now a very busy road, not having been in contact with cars for a while, we were left a little overwhelmed by them all. Just enough time to go back to Pixie for a whisky and some chocolate.

A day of rest

After fixing Wendy's pole, it was time to relax, we went for walk along the beach, it stretches for miles, but we walked as far as we wanted to and then walked back, via the shop for an ice cream.

Kirsty with a small ice cream.

Location:Kilmore Quay

Little things mount up

After the not-so-much fun and games of yesterday, it was time to look at the problems, and ways of solving them. First off I emailed Crusader and within minutes of sending it Paul was on the phone. It turns out the battens should have been held in place by the batten car, but due to a change in the order of the mainsail, we didn't get the batten cars. Initally we were going to swap the battens and cars from our old mainsail to the new one, but Crusader just gave us new fittings, but on the order it still said we were using our existing cars, so there was no need to supply new ones. It was a simple mistake on both of our parts. Paul is going to courier the bits to us, I offered to pay, but Paul wouldn't have it. He's given us a quick fix in the mean time, so I've jut sorted that out.

Next came the problem with Wendy the wind chargers pole. In the swell yesterday it came loose and 1 of the 4 bolts holding the top half of the pole to the bottom one came loose and fell over the side. On closer inspection I discovered what had caused this. We bought the pushpit mounting poles from Marlec after we bought Wendy from them. We weren't able to spread the poles as wide as they advised, so I made up another pole using th same fittings, as well as having a stainless steel bracket made to hold the pole upright. For some reason (probably ease of distribution) Marlec use a two part pole, and while the bottom of our pole is rock solid the top has a little movement where the joint is. Although there is a stout aluminium joining piece the bolts into it are on the same axis so it will wobble.

It's this wobble that I believed caused the problem, as it moved slighly one way and then he other, the astic bush holdinthe clamps crept slightly, and over the course of the crossing the supports crept along the pushpit, this in turn caused the top to wobble more, and the brackets crept more and the cycle continued. Until the plastic bush either came out out the pole moved. Not only were the brackets moving, the non lockable bolts were also working loose. Not the best thing to happen at sea!



My solution isn't elegant, I'll be ther first to admit that, but it solid. First off to stop the bols at the joint coming loose I've done away with 4 bolts going in from the outside and use two long bolts going all the way through, secured with a lock nut, secondly there is a stainless steel hose clip around the joint so it's secured from the outside and the inside. Next inthe pole mounts I've tightened them up and covered them with tape, not pretty but the bolts won't come loose. The finally to stop the clamps creeping and moving I've put a hose clip each side. We'll see how long this lot lasts


While we had some of the items to do the repairs, we needed more bits, and a new bottle of Gaz which we were unable to find in Newlyn or Penzance. We headed off to the chandler and hardwear store, to be fair I wasn't expecting to find much, how wrong I was. Kilmore quay has a pub, and RNLI station, a chippy, a shop, a restaurant, a community centre and a scattering of houses. It aslo has one of the best stocked chandleries I ever been to. Thanks to the local fishing industry and the passing yachies on route to Irelands sceanic west, Kilmore's chandlery would put many Solent chandleries to shame. It seem to have everything. The only thing it didn't have, that we wanted was a tiller pilot.

We also bought a spare jerry can for diesel. It's, always good to carry a bit extra in reserve. Or as the harbour master succinctly put it "Better to be looking at something, than looking for it"

Anyway it's a burning hot day here, so we've just been for a walk along this beach

Ireland ahoy!

What a crossing that was! I wish I could be writing that in a good way, however we had one hell of a trip, and one that we're glad is over. Everything started off well, we had a good motor sail away from Newlyn along past Lamorna and the Minack theatre. Even past Lands End, where things can get rough, was placid for us, and things were going really well. After leaving at 12:45 by 20:00 we were well up on our track. We had a light breeze from astern, full main and a preventer to stop the boom swinging around. There was still warm sunshine about and we picked up a couple of bumble bees who stopped with us on their way from the Scillies. I nicknamed them Bill and Ben and their pre sleep washing and preening was amusing to watch.

At 20:00 we had about 12 knots of true wind so it was all pretty relaxed. The forecast looked good, south veering southwest 4 or 5 occasionally 6. I wasn't too concerned about the 6, we've been out in worse. It looked as if it was going to track through well ahead of us. So as the sun's light started to go, I went down below for a few hours sleep. During Kirsty's she saw dolphins, and when I came up for my watch she had a magical smile on her face as she told me about them. On her watch the wind had gradually increased until it was blowing around 20 knots from astern, we still has full main, and had the engine running to charge the batteries. By now it was dark and had started to rain quite heavily.

As my two hour watch went on I saw the wind starting to increase until it was gusting 26 knots, it was all getting a bit rocky so when Kirsty came back on deck after having little to no sleep I suggested that we should put a reef in. The wind was now blowing a steady 27-30 knots from behind us, the rain was heavy, and the seas were fairly big as we kept surfing down them. I thought of a line from Robin Knox Johnston's book, "It's no good lying in your bunk praying to god. God won't put a reef in for you, you have to do it yourself" so in a near gale, lashing rain, and on Pixie who was having the sleighride of her life, I went up to the mast to put two reefs in. I was more aphrehensive than scared, but I was well aware that if I lost my footing or grip in that weather, Kirsty would have a hell of a job getting me back on board, even with a safety harness. Every thing went as planned the only difficult bit for me was trying to get part of the sail over a hook, that needed both hands, and all the time, Pixie was galloping along.

Even with two reefs in the mainsail Pixies was keeping up a minimum of 6 knots and surfing along down the swell at well over 8 knots, all in control, just. Because Kirsty hadn't managed to get any sleep I did her watch, but when she came back to take over up she found the sea very disorientating, so after a while in the cockpit I sent her down again. From the cockpit I could just see waves, hear them breaking, I couldn't see a horizon, just the White foam around us. Eventually it started to clam down, back to 20 knots.

I went off watch around 4:30 when it started to get light and Kirsty could see our surroundings (and the horizon), about an hour later I got a call from Kirsty. There was now thick fog and a number of fishing boats around us. We had been using our sea~me radar enhancer since dusk, and now it was foggy I was glad we had it. Kirsty had managed to thread us though the boats we had seen on our AIS (Automatic Identification System) which is displayed on our chart plotter. The AIS we got from Digital Yacht and shows shipping details, boat names and direction is a great safety addition to the boat, it takes the guesswork out of collision avoidance. So at a quick glance I could see Kirsty was taking the correct action with each of the three vessels. Unfortunately while taking avoid action Kirsty had taken the tiller pilot off the tiller and laid it in the cockpit, an errant wave caught Pixie and it rolled off the seat and stopped working. This was around 06:30 so we'd have to steer by hand for the rest of the day. The fog stayed with us for a couple of hours and eventually cleared. The day started to get brighter and things started looking up.

Anyway with the fog gone the sun came out and the wind came around onto the nose. We started off motor sailing into the confused swell whiched worked at first but as the breeze increased Pixie was getting stopped by the waves.

Then I noticed that the wind charger (Wendy) wobbling around a bit too much. All her supporting brackets were working loose in the swell of the previous night. I got the tools out and fixed it the best I could. We'd been motor sailing as high as we could and the mainsail has been slatting every now and again. I looked up at the mainsail and noticed two battens had come loose, we dropped the main and I took the battens out so they wouldn't damage themselves or more importantly the sail. With the sail back up I got back to the cockpit and sat down. Bill and Ben the bumble bees could see what was happening around them and took the opportunity to jump ship, both flying off within minutes of each other. I'd rescued a very soggy Ben from under the genoa track at first light, poor little thing was soaked, so I sat him under the spray hood to dry out. It obviously worked because as soon as he could go, he was off.

There was still a swell running and during the night we'd been running the engine to provide the power we needed to run the auto pilot, and radar. But there is something not right about the system as the highest the voltage will get is 13.2 volts but most of the time the charge is about 13.05 volts.

We continued motor sailing, then we heard something metallic fall onto the deck, I looked up and the top battern was poking out. We thought that something had fallen from the sail, but on looking around the boat I noticed 1 of 4 bolts joining the two parts of Wendy's main pole has worked its way loose and jumped off the back of the boat. Out came the tool box again but we didn't have any replacement bolts big enough. Out came the bodge tape (duct tape to give it's trade name) and I tightened the remaining bolts before a liberal application of sticky strong black tape to stop a repeat performance from the deserter's remaining 3 friends.

Wondering what else could go wrong as Pixie seemed to fall apart around us I thought we make the most of the sunshine and instead of fight against the wind, sail as high as we could north, before tacking west. All was going well until the wind died, and what little there was when it came back had backed to the west. We kept motorsailing for the next few hours, thought the sail was more for stability than propulsion. On reaching the Saltee Islands off Kilmore Quay there was bright sunshine but little wind, so we dropped the main and motored the rest of the way.

We were directed to our berth by the harbour master, who took our lines when we arrived, he gave us a very quick run through of what's around before rushing off for his dinner. He was in danger of getting in trouble because he waited to see us in.

We set about tidying up Pixie, which didn't take long, then headed off for showers. 1 euro coin gets you a 2 min shower, we had 3 euros, so I enjoyed every second of the 1:41 shower, as it took 19 seconds to heat up! There is a timer on the wall, I wasn't sitting wait with a stop watch.

On the way back to the boat we saw a chippy, and decided that fish and chips would go down a treat.



We had two portions of beer battered haddock and chips, but to be honest we could have shared one portion and still walked away happy. They were delicious. We walked off our food by taking a stroll up the hill to the pub, had a well earned pint of Guinness, before the desire for bed took over.

Location:Kilmore Quay