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resting.
Neil and Mairi continued the journey
from Fort William down past Dunstaffonage and Shuna etc., in the
pishing rain, to Oban, where we spent a couple of days trying
to dry out the waterproofs and Neil's phone, to no avail. We ran
into a couple fae Banff Sailing Club and had a swallay onb
oard their boat.
The Banff skipper tried to persuade us that the weather was going
to become bonnie soon but we were so disgusted by then that Mairi
decided that we were going "anywhere but" the Wild Wild
West.....
We did not have a pleasant journey back to the canal as it was still pishing rain but we did manage to, get up Neptunes Staircase that same day, That was the day that the sun came out for an hour!!!!! Loch Lochy was interesting as we had to motor into 28 knots of wind whilst someone held a fire hose on us!!! Pishing rain again. We crossed Loch Ness the same day as we did Loch Lochy and we couldnt see a damn thing for the torrential rain so we turned the radar on to check for Nessie, whom I believe was underneath our boat for a while. By this time I had ceased all forms of communication and I wanted to cry.......
Final day of torture - As Fusion
entered the middle lock at Dochgarroch (in blazing sunshine, yes
really), the lock was drained and just as we sank to the bottom
of the stinky hole the hydraulic hose on the gate exploded 
and it was pishing oil for a change
and we got stuck there. What jolly good fun. By the time the said
hose was replaced the lock keepers had to go for lunch, by which
time we missed the opening of the swing bridge. After being held
up for about 2 or 3 hours in total we crossed halfway through
the swing bridge just as a ambulance radioed the bridge to close
immediately, we just made it. We entered the works lock and the
keeper told us that the rail bridge was opening in 5 minutes,
I asked him how long it would take to drain the lock for us and
he said 7 minutes............however, there is a God and he was
a nice chap, having been informed by Big Brother of our detention
at the Dochgarroch Lock black hole so he and Casey Jones actually
held up the Cannonball Express and kept the rail bridge open extra
time for little Fusion to scream through at full throttle. The
sight of the stopped traffic and the train actually made me laugh
for the first time in a while!
All I can say to Neil is don't ever
mention a sailing holiday in Wild Wild West to me again!!!!! and
do you think Dubarry will send me money if I tell them my boots
were the only thing that didn't get soaked through. I wonder if
Dubarry could branch into ladies
underwear...............................
How about an endurance award for the crew of Fusion II?
Mairi (former crew member)
Harmony - sailing home
On Friday evening, 17 September, Robert Morrice, his friend John Kelly, John Barclay and I drove over to Loch Aline to bring Harmony home to Buckie.
We
arrived in the rain as the light was fading, piled into our aluminium
beach dinghy and rowed out to the mooring. We always remove the
mooring buoy and sink the riser of our mooring during the winter
to prevent anyone else from using the mooring and also to minimise
wear and tear on the riser chain.
This process takes a couple of hours including inflating the rubber,
carrying the mooring buoy and junk ashore and carrying the aluminium
dinghy well above the high water mark and turning it upside down.
Finally we deflated the inflatable dinghy, made a hot cuppa and
set off for the Caledonian Canal at 11pm. It was a very dark night
but with little wind obliging us to motor which we did at a steady
6.5 knots.
Making good use of the small plotter
at the wheel and the large scale one at the chart table run through
a laptop we motored through a pitch dark rainy night down Loch
Linnhe through the Corran Narrows to Fort William.
It was so dark when we arrived off the entrance to the Caledonian
Canal at Corpach we had to use the spotlight to identify the pontoon
at the canal entrance. We tied up at 5am and slept to
8am. We entered the canal at 8.30am and progressed to the bottom
of Neptunes Staircase where we waited for half an hour as boats
came the opposite way.
Unfortunately we were sharing the
8 locks with a 100 ft steel leisure barge, which meant we had
to be very careful to keep out of his way until he was securely
tied up.
Once we reached the top of the locks we pressed on as quick as
possible to ensure we did not have to share locks with him. By
this time the rain had stopped and Robert entertained us with
some tunes on the pipes. We passed through Gairlochy Locks, Loch
Lochy, Laggan Locks, Loch Oich, Cullochy Lock and Kytra Lock at
double quick time arriving at the top of Fort
Augustus Locks by 5pm.
My wife Ann and John's wife Tricia joined us here having left
home early and picked up the car we had left in Loch Aline.
We downed a few drams and bottles of wine before and during dinner
prepared on the boat. We were early to bed at about 9.30 having
lost a good deal of sleep the night before, however Robert and
his pal John had a quick run around the pubs at Ft Augustus before
hitting their beds - we never even heard then come aboard later
that evening.
Our wives left us after breakfast
as we negotiated the locks and they headed home with the cars.
A fresh wind and rain headed us as we motored into Loch Ness.
So on with the autopilot, dial up 7 knots, turn on the Eperspacher
heater below and tuck under the sprayhood and
down in the cabin for the next 3 odd hours. We traversed the remainder
of the canal in double quick time arriving at the final reach
at Clachnaharry sea lock at about 3pm on Sunday.
We decided not to press on to Buckie that evening, as the forecast
was good with light
northerly winds for the next 3 days.
Robert and his pal left at this point and Fred Murray joined us.
We locked out of Corpach at 8.30am
on Monday about 2 hours before high water and fought the tide
under the Kessock Bridge, sometimes only making 4 knots over the
ground with 7 knots on the log. The trick is to try and stay in
the weaker stream close to the
river without going
ashore on the mud banks. The forecast was for northerly 3 to 6
knots all the way along the Moray coast.
However as we approached Fort George the wind began to freshen
from the northeast and as we travelled along the south side of
the Riff Bank we had a solid 30 knots on our nose with a rapidly
building steep
sea. As we approached the south cardinal buoy marking the eastern
end of the Riff Bank the wind had build up a steep sea that was
dropping our speed to as little as 2 to 3 knots despite our 40
hp engine and 8 tons. We struggled on for a while until we heard
the forecast from the coastguard, which was NE 5 to 7 becoming
SE 5 to 6! The thought of plugging into that for hours and hours
plus the discomfort decided us to turn back to the canal (the
first time ever). Whilst sailing back through the inner firth
we met the puffer VIC 32 taking passengers on a pleasure trip
from the canal to Fort George. We tied
up in the canal about 1 pm and decided to take the bus home. By
Forres it was obvious that the wind had abated and we arrived
back in Buckie to calm and sunshine. So much for Met forecasts!
On Wednesday Fred and I sailed back
to Buckie under motor all the way again against 4 hours of foul
tide. There was no wind at all until Burghead when a 2 or 3 knot
breeze sprang up and headed us all the way to Buckie. Total time
Inverness to Buckie was 7 hours 20 minutes -
not bad considering it was approaching spring tides. By Thursday
morning it was blowing pretty hard from the north - so we got
back just in time.
Harmony may get one or two sails before we crane out and the maintenance regime over winter starts again. Not a great 2010 season for weather - lots of strong winds, here's hoping for a better 2011 season.
Phil Brown
Harmony
Mouse Goes About
Severe weather warning, he observes,
from his office (in Aberdeen), as I drive to my last meeting of
the day (in Fraserburgh). Nevertheless when I arrive home (in
Macduff) he has a pizza in the oven and our plans to sail Mouse
are upstanding.
For our sanity I open a bottle of Kumala Eternal, whilst he muscles
in to Top Gear.
LWS 18.49, 10 August 2010. By this
time we are in Findochty, and by virtue of the tidal circumstances,
in the Admirals.
Mouse is ready to go. Sails up, lines slipped. Looking resplendent
in the evening sun.
Off the berth at 19.00. Almost.
Mouse is loose in twelve inches of water. A cup of coffee, and
she is floating free.
But alas, the last of the homemade shear pins gives up the challenge
of its upgrade from a mere screw and needs replacing. (My consignment
of kosher shear pins arrived yesterday).
He places the engine in the cockpit
with the prop facing me in the galley, as I collect the pliers
and the new pins, which I have carefully housed in a Heinz Baby
food jar.
In two minutes the pin is replaced and the engine remounted.
We are off, thirty-five minutes after LWS, in about eighteen inches
of water.
Halfway across the harbour my soul
mate is still bent over the stern rail and Mouse is drifting gracefully
towards Vivari, on the east wall.
I slip a midship line on as he announces that the string he used
to up haul the rudder has fouled the prop.
Engine up and kitchen knife at the ready!
This fixed, we wave our goodbyes to Findochty and head for Portknockie.
The original plan was Portgordon, but never mind. Low water is
never a good time for visiting Portgordon.
There is little to no wind. The
water is calm on the incoming tide. We make a remarkable 4.9 knots.
At 20.25 I switch on the navigation lights, for fun rather than
necessity. It is not dark at all, but there are a few vessels
in proximity.
Portknockie is in sight. On the foredeck I am able not only to
drop the jib but to unhank it, stow it and make ready for our
approach.
Just after nine we drift in and I slip a line onto the ladder.
With legs crossed I attach the long stern warp, and then flee
in the direction of the onshore heads, which I find locked up
for the night.
I run back to Mouse in order to liberate my fluid levels courtesy
of the overestimated but underused facility aboard.
In the night there is a stiff breeze,
which sends Mouse into a frenzy at high water. There has not been
this much action since being moored behind the Dunoon ferry. This
time however, there is a wall involved.
I stand and watch helplessly before walking Mouse to the next
bollard, where she can comfortably take the ground. I am the back
end of the donkey in this manoeuvre, and it is at this point that
I realise she has lost her tail!
The entire rudder assembly is gone.
Tiller, stock and blade! Mentally I am tallying up my misfortunes
with rudders. One lost in the Forth, another in Loch Oich and
one in Peterhead.
Am I bothered? Due to these last disasters, not in the least!
I turned my hand to fashioning several spare ones, which lie redundant
in my cellar.
All part of my stress management at sea idea.
However, it would be less trouble
to trawl the beaches and find it. My directional analysis says
it should fetch up on the inner beach, 
and
to my total amazement, half hidden by seaweed, there it is! I
am exhausted by my own efforts.
Its recapture is a delicate operation on slippy seaweed. Perhaps
I should paint it white, to be seen easier!
Back in Portknockie the next day
I wait patiently for the tide to recede in order to board Mouse
from the landward side to attach one seriously large fender. Following
this, winds come from the north, with unfriendly seas and unco-operative
tide times. In fact, pages 18 and 19 of my tide tables are thumbed
and scribbled on more so than any other.
There are barnacles on Mouse's rudder.
A couple of nights of random excitement in Portknockie for Mouse,
and very little sleep for me.
Nine to Five, Port to Port, 14 August 2010
The next window of opportunity to
spend time plastering up Mouse's injuries is the following Saturday
morning. The day presents a grey spectacle, although the seas
have calmed. Grey and muddy. I am there by nine, hauling the harbourmaster
from his pit to dig holes and fashion ground tackle.
Having arranged bouys and pulleys and risers it approaches lunchtime.
Then to Portknockie to fetch Mouse,
and at 13.30 we leave, three hours before HWS. Sails up, pies
and a pint. There is a big swell.
Out of Findochty they are racing. They will not be expecting Mouse!
We saunter through the finish gate as they are on the horizon
doing triangles and sausages.
I rescue the oversized fender and harness it on the foredeck.
Mouse chugs along at 3.9 knots with a following sea and just enough
wind to fill the jib. Making 4 knots past Buckie, as Gemini Explorer
catches up at Buckie Mucks.
Down jib and main before entering the harbour, and then to try
out the morning's mooring project. I hide the sea stowed main
under the sail cover and jump onto the wall. There is a sparkle
of blue in the sky, and for the rest of the day it is bright.
We finish bang on five o'clock. Time for a pint in the Admirals.
Tina Harris
Mouse
Moray Firth Harbours
Sail in July!
I planned this leave to visit three Moray Harbours, Hopeman, Findhorn
& Balintore.
I set off for Hopeman on a rising tide sun out a good easterly F 3-4 doing 5 knots goose winged, arriving 3hrs later at Hopeman unfortunately I broke my spinnaker pole and then snapped the topping lift tidying my sails away. Oh yes and my old autohelm packed up! In to the harbour I found the only spot against the west wall, visitors are supposed to use the outer harbour but local fishing boats are now using it. The Harbour Master was soon across to see me but went away very unhappy when he realised I was a Findochty boat, he wished me a pleasant stay and asked if I could take the bottom OK. Later that night I found out what he meant when I had a 25deg list to starboard, good job I was sleeping on my own. Fish & chips for tea.
I left the following morning as soon as I was floating again a nice fresh easterly F 3-4. I soon made it to the Findhorn fairway buoy RW and dropped the sails. A ketch was on his way out, I let him come past before I made my way in, leaving the first red buoy on my port side. I struggled to see the next buoy, a green one, but stuck to the dark water, easily seen in bright sunshine. I passed the green buoy down my starboard side turned to starboard and lined up the three poles leaving them all well clear down my port side, then on into the narrows. It was a flood tide so no problem going through, next a red buoy to port and two greens to starboard. I had pre-booked the visitors mooring, which I found opposite the dingy park picking up the marker buoy on first approach.
It was gala week in Findhorn, lots
of dinghy racing which was great to watch. Out came my inflatable
and a very old Johnston 2hp outboard. Once ashore I went to the
boatyard and paid £10 mooring fee then off to the RFYC for
a couple of pints. Back onboard for tea and a great evening watching
a pair of Ospreys catching fish close to the boat. The following
morning was miserable, strong easterly wind. I went for a walk
out to the bar; being springs I was able to walk out to the outer
green buoy. Whilst there I drew a map for future reference, which
I have scanned here for anyone to use, it's not to scale, remember
the bar moves so the map will change. Simon and Katrina were very
helpful at the Boatyard letting me use a PC to check the weather
and charging my mobile. That was me; stuck all day and another
night. Alarm set for early HW at 0400 one look outside and back
to bed, by the afternoon tide the wind had dropped and turned
to the west out I went 3 hours before HW. The sandbank on west
side of moorings was covered, locals told me this gave 2 meters
at the bar outer buoy. A good swell was breaking but no problem
getting out, good sail east to Burghead when the wind dropped
and I motor sailed the rest of the way back to Findochty.
Never made it to Balintore it will have to stay on my list of
harbours to visit.
Ed Durkin
Sailing West Coast 2010 with Harmony
We could not pretend that it has
been a good season so far with strong winds, rain, poor forecasts
and cool temperatures. Wet weather
gear has been
worn most weekends to keep warm.
Harmony has been sailed almost every weekend since launching in April but we have been unable to travel far from our base at Loch Aline due to actual or forecast strong winds.
Fred Murray has joined us a few
times as has Robert Morrice. Alistair McHardy sailed into Loch
Aline in Fung Su and joined us for a sail in company, to Loch
Drumbuie in Loch Sunart, one weekend. This was the weekend we
broke the boom end during a relatively gentle gybe, which
was expertly repaired by Euan Paterson in Buckie.
John and I had one excellent weekend
during the Scottish 3 Peaks Race when the weather was sunny on
the Saturday with light steady winds and we got mixed in with
a large gaggle of boats that were trying to claw their way out
of a massive windless hole near Duart Castle on the
Island of Mull. We had found and stayed in a patch of light breeze
further offshore and soon had these boats, once seeing this, all
around us each dicing for position - as were we of course. We
were in a group of about a dozen boats of all shape and sizes
not giving and inch to windward as we tacked down the Lynne of
Morven towards the Sound of Luing. We broke off the fun after
an hour, having 
stayed at the
head of the pack and took a short cut between Bach Island and
the south end of the island of Kerrerra. The tide was right for
us to enter Loch Feochan for the first time ever. What a tricky
entrance this was - extremely shallow with only 1.7 metres under
our keel at the entrance an hour before high water. The entrance
channel is
torturous twisting from side to side, very very narrow but well
buoyed. Once within the entrance the loch opens up into deep water
and is very pretty with wooded sides and lots of room for anchoring
and is perfectly sheltered from all directions just like Loch
Aline.
We only stayed and hour to ensure we could exit the entrance before
the tide locked us in. We then sailed the short distance to the
anchorage at Puilladobhrain where we stayed the night with about
a dozen other boats. As is the tradition with us we rowed ashore
and tramped over the hill overlooking the anchorage for a few
pints in the Tigh na Truish Inn before retuning to Harmony for
our dinner.
The next morning dawned foggy and damp as we set off the 15 miles
back to Loch Aline. Visibility was very poor at about 300 metres
as we steered for the invisible gap between Bach Island and Kerrerra
- thank heavens for good charts and two electronic plotters, one
of which we have mounted at the helm. As we crossed the Lynne
of Morven the fog thinned and we began to see The Island of Mull.
By the time we entered the Sound of Mull visibility was good.
Another weekend our wives joined
us but the weather was against us and we were unable to sail at
all. By Sunday morning it looked doubtful if we would get off
the boat at the mooring the wind was so strong.
Luckily we have a strong 14 foot aluminium dinghy for just this
purpose but we needed to use the outboard engine on it to ensure
we got ashore where we wanted to.
Last weekend John, Fred and I were
joined by Robert Morrice in Lolita and Bob Calder in his UFO34
Obsession at Loch Aline with their wives and after a jolly Friday
evening together on the mooring we set out on a lovely beat to
Tobermory on the Saturday morning. Robert even
managed to play his pipes as we tacked up the sound of Mull.
Tobermory was very busy with charter yachts however Bob managed
to get the last but one pontoon finger. Harmony and Lolita anchored,
preferring to spend our money in the Macdonald Arms rather than
on a £20 a night pontoon. During the night it rained heavily
and as there
had been a NW 7 to 8 forecast for the weekend, as soon as the
wind began to blow we arose and hauled up anchor before breakfast
and set off down the Sound of Mull the 12 miles back to Loch Aline
with half a furled genoa and 20 knots of wind behind us at a steady
6 to 8 knots.
This was quite comfortable apart from the wet but then the wind
steadily increased until we had a steady 30 to 35 knots and the
genoa was steadily decreased in size to the size of a storm jib.
The wind continued to rise to 40 knots with gusts to 45 although
the seas were not more than 4 or 5 feet in these sheltered waters.
Harmony remained in good control often at 9 knots and more although
the sail and mast got a good shaking in these conditions. It was
great to turn into Loch Aline, which was perfectly sheltered.
It was noted however that the Loch Aline - Fishnish(Isle of Mull)
ferry could not operate as conditions on the Mull shore were too
rough to land passengers and cars. We had a good breakfast dried
ourselves off at the mooring
before setting off home again.
Phil Brown
Harmony
Mairi and I set off for Findhorn
on Friday morning 23rd May for the Benromach regatta, as we headed
west the wind was as usual on the bow although the sea state wasn't
too choppy to motor along hoping for a change in wind direction
to get some sail up. We passed Lossie still under engine and after
a few squalls the wind almost died away which made it much more
comfortable heading along past the skerries and Hopeman.As we
neared Burghead the wind came round slightly more to the North
west and we set some sail but it was short lived as the wind died
completely. When we neared Findhorn it was about two and a half
hours after high tide so we kept quite close to the safe water
marker buoy (red and white) which is well off Findhorn and lined
up the port and starboard marker buoys for the channel into the
river. There
are two posts in the water just off Findhorn to port as you go
in and as we neared them the log showed 5 knots although I am
convinced that we were only doing about one knot past them due
to the flow of the river and the ebbing tide. We passed the next
green buoy to port and two red ones to starboard as we headed
up the bay to find a visitors mooring of which there are a few.
Soon we were moored up and the dinghy was dragged out of the bag
for the first time in a couple of years and inflated on deck and
off we went to the Crown and Anchor for a pint and a bar supper
which turned out to be really good pub grub. We went on from there
to have a couple of drinks in the RFYC, which licensed and is
now open to the public for meals, drinks and coffees etc. Having
had a bit of banter with the locals in the club about the next
days events we decided to make our way back to Fusion 2 for the
night and get settled down. We had left the dinghy at the pontoon
at the boat yard and the tide had turned which was a great help
for going back upstream, unfortunately when we got near the boat
and I tried to row against the tide the paddles kept jumping out
of the rowlocks and we were getting washed upstream bumping into
a Moody 336 which was moored near us. Decision was made to head
for shore row back towards the boatyard and try again. On the
fifth attempt we were finally at our destination (around 60feet
from shore) tied up the dinghy and got settled in for a nightcap.
On Saturday morning Bob Lawton and Robin Nicholson arrived to
crew with us for the cruiser races, it was a overcast day with
light airs so not very exciting for racing but off we went out
into the firth along with the other two cruisers which were Findhorn
based and numerous sailing dinghys. There were some Lossie boats
supposed to be participating but they never turned up.
Race one started and off we went having had a decent start to
follow Blue Moon a dehler 34 around the triangular course with
a bavaria 36 named Boomerang behind us we were going well and
only just got overtaken by Boomerang on our way to the finish
line.
After race one
we had a quick lunch break and a coffee when we noticed the other
two cruisers coming towards us looking very business like so we
headed for the start line only to discover that the race had started.
Being used to getting a shout on the radio we were not looking
for a flag so had a fair bit of catching up to do. The second
race ended with Fusion 2 third over the line although we had been
catching up throughout the race, if only we had known about the
plans for the start.
Another enjoyable night and supper in the RFYC clubhouse was had
by Mairi myself and Bob before we decided to head back to Fusion
2 as it was getting dark and we would have to make two trips with
the dinghy to get Mairi out to the boat then back for Bob and
his camping gear. The rain was bouncing when we left the clubhouse,
Bob went to his car for his sleeping bag etc, I attempted to row
Mairi from the clubhouse pontoon to the boat, when Bob returned
to the shore we had only made it about 50 feet against the tide
and were practically going nowhere so we beached the dinghy, carried
it along the beach to where we could get the incoming tide to
assist us in reaching Fusion2 , the second trip was made successfully
with Bob although his kit was soaked by the time we got there.
Sunday was a really nice day for racing and when Robin arrived
we headed out again for what looked like challenging conditions
only to find out after watching the committee boat trying to anchor
for an hour that the cruiser race was to be cancelled and the
sailing dinghies would race inside Findhorn bay, so having had
enough of late night rowing trips we decided to ask the boatyard
if we could use the pontoon which the Lossie boats had pre booked
and not turned up to use, the pontoon costs £10 per night
which is the same as the visitors mooring buoys which are all
payable at the yard. We spent the rest of Sunday afternoon having
a couple of drinks at the clubhouse in the sun watching the dinghy
racing in the bay and decided to stay the night and go home on
M
onday afternoon at high tide.
Monday was a nice enough morning but as forecast easterly wind
around 20knots (just what you need for heading for Finechty) so
after much debate about staying another night we decided to head
for hame as the wind was due to change around to SSE which would
suit us a bit better. The wind did change, just off of Buckpool
as I remember so not much help there. We berthed in Finechty at
aboutten o'clock on Monday night having had a great weekend and
Mairi poured us both a good dram, which for the first time in
my life she said I deserved?? Due to the conditions which we came
back in. (must do the challenging stuff more often).
The locals in Findhorn made us all really welcome at their club
and were great company; you can get food at the clubhouse and
use the showers etc there. A lot of people are put off going into
Findhorn due to the bar which is well out into the firth from
the entrance of the bay but if you follow the marker buoys at
a decent state of tide most Finechty boats would have absolutely
no problems. Thanks again to Bob and Robin for crewing.
Neil Innes
Fusion II
The first day of the RNLI 150th Celebrations took place at Buckie Harbour on Sunday 13th June. Harbour Day, involved the launching of the restored, pulling lifeboat, William Riley and the oarsmen and women consisted mainly of FWSC members and the current Buckie Lifeboat cox Allan Robertson was at his rightful place, the helm. Mairi's sailing friend Robin, made up the final numbers.
The oars were approximately 8 feet
long and they appeared to be really heavy at the beginning but
it did not take long for the two 
teams,
the blue team and the white team, to get into synch with their
"stroke". The "stroke" being the person sitting
on the lead oar on port and starboard sides, namely Bob Lawton
and Angus Gallacher. The boys kept a good, steady pace and we
decided we were all so brilliant at rowing that we would venture
out of the harbour. Allan, the cox, had a very basic method of
controlling the rudder, by pulling on ropes to port and starboard.
In my personal opinion, he was somewhat better at pulling ropes
than he was at rowing. He sat directly in front of me rowing earlier
that day and when he lost his sroke he fell back and squashed
me. Yes, the oars were so heavy and powerful when they bit the
water that that if you lost your stroke or got out of time with
the others, they had the power to whack you in the ribs and throw
you backwards, bodily.
There was a fair swell running, when we left Buckie harbour and headed west of the Mucks beacon. There was not much wind to speak of and light rain came and went, however, the boat and the crew seemed to cope with the conditions tremendously well. The William Riley is a very sturdy, wooden, sea boat although I am not quite sure whether I would be brave enough to row out to the Mucks or anywhere else for that matter in the kind of conditions that the current Buckie Lifeboat, William Balnnin ventures out in. Someone suggested that we row to Finechty but the crew threatened to mutiny so that was the end of that bright suggestion.
On our return to the harbour, there were photographers waiting from the Buckie Paper and the Northern Scot snapping away at our motley crew rowing along in perfect synch and I believe we have already featured in the Buckie Paper as I write this article.
Later, we stood down some of the
rowers to make space for passengers and then we made several trips
in and around the Lifeboat 
basin, rowing small children and their parents
about, telling them about the craft and it's history and generally
having great fun. It soon became apparent that we could not row
and sing at the same time, because we all kept laughing, so the
singing soon got the side of the head. That, and the fact we were
probably torturing our passengers to death with our out of tune
Sea Shantie recitals. Voice training from Victoria Park - no disrespect
to the Jags intended, I speak entirely for myself.
A great day was had by all and we eventually ran out of willing passengers. There was a great sigh of relief at this point as the blisters were starting to appear on my hands from the rubbing of the oars. I expected to have aching muscles the following day but I was absolutely fine. Maybe I should take up rowing instead of sailing, I would probably do myself a lot less damage!
My special thanks to all who assisted in any way to make the day a success.
Mairi
Sailing In The Greek Islands in May 2010 with Sailing Holidays Ltd (flotilla)
The story begins on the fist of
May when we arrived at Corfu and were taken by mini bus to Gouvia
Marina to collect our yachts for the first cruise of the summer
season 2010. Neil and myself hired a Beneteau Oceanis 323, named,
Pirgos, for a week and Bob and Jackie
Lawton hired
a Gib Sea, named, Alcudi, for a fortnight. After we unpacked and
bought some provisions we were invited to meet the youngsters
on the" Lead crew" who would be our mentors for the
week, their job was to co-ordinate the sailing destinations, arrange
the social events and assist with any issues such as breakdowns,
etc. Well, of course they are youngsters when you are my age.
On departing Gouvia Marina on 2nd
May we were sailing and motor sailing in very light airs, bound
for Iggy Creek anchorage and we had a pod of dolphins with us
for a while, then we had a change of plan and decided to head
for the final destination of the day which was the village of
"Mourtou" which you probably guessed means "dead".
39 degrees 24'66 n by 20 degrees 13'82 E. The surrounding Sivota
Islands are high, bold islands, visible from the north and south.
Nisos Ay Nicolaos, Nisos Sivota and Nisos Marvos Notos. The rugged
islands close to a steep-to coast have apparently always been
popular with yachties. It really was an enchanting village.
Day one 25 miles.
The following day we departed Mourtou
bound for the Island of Paxos, steering 207 deg. Lakka, our final
destination, was situated in a large bay on the north end of Paxos,
much inhabited by day-tripper boats. We decided to anchor Pirgos
and Alcudi side by side and went diving in and swimming in the
crystal clear waters before having lunch, after which we headed
for our final destination of the day, "Gaios". The main
harbour on the island is tucked in and completely hidden behind
the islet of Ay Nikoloas. Gaios gives good shelter for 
prevailing summer
westerlies. The harbour became pretty crowded as several flotillas
arrived for the night. We moored stern to using our bow anchor
and two stern lines ashore and then went swimming once again.
See photo of Findochty Water Sports Club Olympic Synchronised
Swimming Team.
Day two 16 miles
Then came a really long passage
through more open, lumpy sea from Gaios down to the mouth of the
Levkas canal, which was a 33-mile stint. These distances seem
insignificant when the conditions are warm and sunny and we did
manage to sail for a fair bit of the day. A large turtle swam
past the boat today about 20 feet away so we got a good look at
him but he did not like the taste of my cheese pie. He obviously
was not of the teenage, mutant variety. There's no pleasing some
animals. The north entrance to the Levkas Canal lies at 38degrees
50'.9N by 20degrees 43'.3E. The canal separates Levkas island
from the mainland of Greece and is a vital waterway for Ionian
cruises as it saves yachts having to sail around the outside of
Levkas Island. The island is steep and rugged except in the canal
where it is low and swampy. The castle of Santa Maura remains
visible at the North entrance to the canal. See photo. The canal
Herber Mester was "one moody *****" He had even less
patience than me and that's not a good sign at all. Once through
the canal we entered what is known as the Inland Sea where we
sailed a further 11 miles to O. Vathi on the island of Nison Meganisi
where we moored stern to once again on a jetty by a restaurant.
Day three 44 miles
On Wednesday, Pirgos set sail clockwise
around Meganisi Island and the wind freshened to over 20 knots,
southerly. We made for an anchorage at Ruda Bay near Poros on
the island of Levkas, by the south end of the Stenon Meganisiou
channel. 38degrees 36'.87N by 20degrees 42'.52E. Levkas meaning,
"white" refers to the white cliffs. It is the largest
wine producer of all the Ionaian islands (Neil, turn this boat
around, I want to stay). We anchored in 8 meters of water, only
to be invaded by a fleet of Sunnyholidays yachts. We had lunch,
swam and then continued on our clockwise route to our final destination
of Spartakhori for the Punch Party. Spartakhori, in my opinion,
is the most beautiful place we visited on our holiday. At the
head of the bay is a taverna with 2 pontoons where we moored stern
to. The village at the top of the hill was stunningly beautiful,
like something that time forgot and the views from the hill viewpoint
were just amazing.
Day four 19 miles
Next day we found "Sam",
one of our lead crew, lying on the beach sleeping, where he had
presumably been all night, I think the punch party was a bit much
for him and he didn't quite make it back to the lead boat "Christine".
On a cloudy but hot day, we departed Spartakhori and steered 039
degrees for a circle around the private island of Skorpios, once
the home of Jackie Onassis/Kennedy, where we took some photos
and then heade
d up round
the island of Skorpidhi, then we turned and headed due south into
the Steno Meganisiou strait bound for our final destination, Sivota
on Levkas island. Our journey was, however, interrupted by an
emergency shout on our working channel "69" from one
of our fellow flotilla yachts. Yacht Kastraki reported that he
was beside a yacht which had caught fire and that two men had
escaped in their inflatable dingy but were suffering from smoke
inhalation and serious burns. The boys were understandably distressed
and when they gave their position and we turned around, we could
see immediately the plume of black smoke billowing into the sky.
Several of our flotilla yachts, including Pirgos and Arkoudi,
responded to the shout for help and headed at full speed to the
scene. By the time we reached the scene the anchored, private
yacht was well ablaze and we were advised by the rescued crew
that the gas was still on inside the boat. The coastguard then
showed up and took care of the injured crew and then the stricken
yacht's mast eventually came down and she sank. The end of somebody's
dream! It was a quite a moving experience and I hope you will
all take care in future to isolate your gas bottles when they
are not in use, I certainly will………We carried on
to a bay at Ormos Vasilaki, on Lefkas, 38degrees 37'. 7N by 20
degrees 36'.15E. A large bay where the sailboards were everywhere
then we saw the Neilson Holidays flags (sporty action holidays).
They were operating from the beach and at the head of the bay.
We anchored Pirgos in 2.9m of water and lay in the sun. Apparently
V
asilaki is one
of the top 10 places for windsurfing in the Med/Ionian. We departed
for Sivota Bay for another stern to anchorage and an excellent
dinner of moussaka and wine.
Day Five 8 miles
Our last full day of sailing was
upon us and it turned out to be the best sailing day of all. We
departed Sivota Bay bound for Fiskardo on the northern tip of
Kefalonia (the island on which Captain Correlli's Mandolin was
filmed). We had an absolute belter of a sail for 10 miles, all
the way across on the same tack and we continued south to an anchorage
where we anchored Pirgos and Alcudi side by side and threw a rope
across to pull the two boats together, creating a mini "Churchill
Barrier"!!! We had great fun there, swimming and blaring
out the CDs then we headed for our final destination of the holiday,
Fiskardo. The wind kicked up, as it does, just as we were anchoring,
using the kedge for the first time. I said to Neil, "Do I
just chuck this whole thing in the water?" He said, "Aye,
and I hope it's tied on". The lead crew threw their anchor
in on day one of the holiday and it sank to the bottom of the
harbour (by itself with no chain attached). Oops a daisy.
We had a team supper, which was excellent. The food in Greece
is really good and it's reasonably priced, in fact we had superb
meals with house wine every night. On the final evening the lead
crew decided to hand out a handful of awards and guess who won
an award? They decided to award Pirgos and Arcudi "The Sibling
Rivalry Award" as they reckoned that our boats often showed
up about the same time and made a good job of anchoring etc. so
they decided that there was a wee bit of "anything you can
do I can do better", going on between us. Of course there
was!!! Most people on the cruise had long since decided that Bob
was
Scottish for
some reason so he got tarred with the same brush as us and was
"related" to us.
Final day 12 miles Grand total for week 124 miles
We all enjoyed the "sunny" flotilla sailing holiday and Neil, Mairi, Bob and Jackie plan to hire a yacht in October 2010, be it a flotilla cruise or a bareboat charter in the Greek islands. Check your diaries boys and girls and give me a shout if you are planning on joining us.….. I can lend you the sailing holidays brochure, alternatively, log on to sailingholidays.com and have a look for yourselves. The Company and crews are a great bunch of people who are fun to be with, flexible, well organised, relaxed and they take great care to ensure that you get what you want from your sailing holiday, regardless of your sailing abilities. In my opinion they are an extremely well run outfit, which I would highly recommend you to book with. (Unfortunately, I am not on commission and I probably do not get a discount).
Mairi
Over the May holiday weekend John
and I travelled over to the boat on the Friday evening. 
The plan was to change the riser on the mooring with new one-inch
chain. We had arranged for a diver friend of Bob Calder's to do
this and he arrive at 9am on Saturday morning.
He first inspected the mooring and
stated that it was approximately half worn on the riser, the worst
bit being the area where the riser joins the ground chain and
moves around on the seabed as the boat moves to wind and tide.
He reckoned it was good for another year or two, but as we had
brought a fresh length of one-inch diameter chain in the trailer
it was decided to use it. The four and a half inch diameter "destroyer"
chain that acts as a ground chain was stated to be perfect although
we had quite a struggle to lift the end from the seabed mud with
our deck winches. The ground weight at the end of the chain could
not be lifted or in fact seen as it had long since disappeared
into the mud.
John and I struggled to lift the
ten metres of riser chain into our battered but trusty aluminium
dinghy we use as a tender to go out to our mooring as it weighed
somewhere in the region of 100+ kilograms.
We attached a large plastic buoy on one end and a long rope on
the bottom end, we then fed the chain over the stern of the dinghy
approximately over the site of the mooring. John and I took the
weight of the bottom end of the rope to a cleat on Harmony whilst
the diver shackled on the riser to the ground chain using large
plastic tie wraps as is now the practice instead of wire to ensure
it does not come undone.
After
it was all complete after about 3 hours John and I reattached
our mooring buoy and "junk" (the rope and/or chain attaching
boat to mooring buoy) and cleaned up the deck of mud, rope and
other junk. As it was raining by now and because we had also met
a couple we knew who
had anchored nearby and who we had invited over later for a few
drinks, John and I had a celebratory drink, an early dinner of
chicken curry and a wee snooze before our friends rowed over in
their dinghy in the early evening. This couple live in Annan,
Dumfrieshire and keep their boat at Kimelfort near Croabh Haven,
Loch Melfort. They are retired teachers who had lived in Portgordon
a number of years ago and knew Fred Murray well and in fact had
bought a painting from him.
After a good evening of sailing yarns John and I were asleep by
11pm.
We woke on Sunday to an overcast
day with the usual Met Office forecast of North Westerly 4 to
5, 6 later. However my clever mobile phone connected with the
internet and a look at GB Windmap indicated only 12 knots of wind
at Tiree, so off we set up the Sound of Mull to
Tobermory using the theory that if the wind got up as high as
that we would have a good down wind run back to Lochaline the
next day.
We motored out into a calm Sound of Mull about 10am until we found a light northerly breeze after about 4 miles. Up went full sail and soon Harmony was tacking up the Sound at 6 knots. Tobermory was very quiet for a bank holiday weekend, lots of empty moorings still and a distinct lack of charter yachts. We motored slowly through the moorings then as Tobermory Bay is open to Northerly winds and can become very uncomfortable we sailed down to the south end of Calve Island to a favourite sheltered anchorage called the Dorlinn and anchored in 7 metres and flat calm.
After lunch aboard we rowed accross
the Dorlinn (Gaelic for narrows) in the inflatable and walked
the 3 miles into Tobermory over the beautiful scenic path. We
enjoyed a pint in the Macdonald Arms and enjoyed listening to
a young man play the bagpipes in an impromptu
session. The walk back to the Dorlinn was just as enjoyable and
we had a few drinks in the cockpit before going below as the wind
remained from the cold North to enjoy our bolognaise with a bottle
of wine. And so to bed early.
Up at 7am next day, sunny clear morning but still with a cold north wind. When we came to raise the anchor we found it stuck fast, however after about 20 minutes of effort by John on the windlass and some to-ing and fro-wing by the boat it suddenly broke free. Our theory is that the chain had wrapped around something - we will need to make inquiries from local divers as to what it was we snagged as we have anchored here dozens of times without incident.
As we began to motor out of the north entrance of Tobermory bay the wind blew up to 25 knots right on our nose and with the wind against the tide it produced a steep chop that knocked our speed down from 6 knots to 3 at times. However as soon as we cleared the bay and set off down the Sound to Lochaline the fresh breeze was over our port quarter and we set a third of the headsail before creaming off at 6 to 7 knots downwind. Typically Sound of Mull, after about 2 hours the wind died away and we hoisted full sails and then the wind headed us with about 15 to 20 knots from the east northeast, keeping us on our toes in the gusts until reaching Lochaline and picking up our mooring.
The "new" Harmony, a Jeanneau
Sun Fizz 40, has proved to be a delight to sail, consistently
sailing to windward at 6 to 7 knots with
little or no attention to the wheel, often sailing herself for
minutes at a time with no input from us. Down wind she fairly
flies, again requiring very little input from the wheel. She is
a very stiff and dry boat that carries her way well through the
tacks, which is just as well as the inner forestay which is about
6 foot from the stem makes tacking the genoa a slow process.
The big mainsail however helps to drive the boat forward once
tacked whilst the genoa is sheeted in on the new tack.
The large clear cockpit with no boom overhead is a delight and our concerns about handling the mainsheet from beneath the spray hood due to the mainsail being sheeted forward of the spray hood have proved to be unnecessary.
The 40hp Perkins engine has behaved
faultlessly, starting almost instantly on the key whether hot
or cold and driving this big heavy boat at an effortless 6 knots
at 1500rpm. The accomodation is very good with 3 double berths
plus the saloon and two heads, which means
there is plenty of room for everyone. It seems that all the time,
effort and money has been well spent and the hope is we can enjoy
lots of years with her as we did for the last 19 years with the
Sigma our old" Harmony.
Phil Brown
Harmony
Harmony's Maiden Voyage
After a couple of trial sails from
Buckie after launching on April 3rd Harmony finally left Buckie
on Friday evening about 6 pm for an
overnight
passage to Inverness and the Caledonian Canal. The wind was on
the nose as usual but only about 10 to 12 knots from the northwest.
Robert Morrice accompanied John and I for this part of the trip,
with Fred Murray joining us at Inverness in the morning.
The night was quite cold but we fortified ourselves with a l"leaving"
dram off Port Gordon and a wee glass of port a bit later during
the night. The Eperspacher central heating was switched on and
the saloon was nice and toasty in contrast to the cockpit.
The genoa was set as we cleared Lossiemouth and this steadied
the boat a good deal as the wind was now about 20 degrees off
our starboard bow. The daylight failed as we cleared Burghead
and we each took a nap for about an hour during the night with
all of us on watch
as we approached the Fort George narrows. The wind fell lighter
at this point and came from our stern.
The run from Fort George to Inverness was in calm water and we
tied up against the pilings outside the Caledonian Canal at about
2am. We left the heating r
unning, put
in the washboards and slept soundly to 7.30am. Breakfast of orange
juice, toast and muesili woke us up.
We entered the canal at 8.30am paid our dues (gulp!) but had to
wait in the Muirtown Basin until about 10am whilst a large barge
and yacht came down the flight. Fred joined us in the basin and
we went up the Muirtown locks in the rain with no hold up.
The rain continued all the way down Loch Ness but a large brunch
of bacon, sausage, beans and
toast with freshly brewed coffee cheered us up. Much to our surprise
when we arrived at Fort Augustus at about 4 .30pm the staff took
us up the flight. Their finishing time is 5.30pm and they are
usually very reluctant to service the locks for passage within
an hour and a half
of knocking off time. So full credit to them for that.
We stayed overnight at the top of Fort Augustus locks, making
use of the hot showers there. A goodly proportion of whisky, beer
and wine was consumed whilst the chilli con carne was heating
in the oven and we got out of our wet oilies. After a large hot
meal some more alcohol and a great deal of storytelling we hit
our beds at about 10.30pm.
Next morning (Saturday) was dull and overcast and remained so
until Gairlochy.
Another big brunch was consumed whilst sailing down a breezy Loch
Lochy.
Once we reached Banavie at the top of Neptunes Staircase the sun
was out and so was Robert's bagpipes which he played all the way
to the sea lock at Corpach to the delight of the canal staff and
tourists.
We took on water at Corpach and bade farewell to Mairaidht the
head lockkeeper, a long time member of the staff who was leaving
her job next week. Robert piped "we're nae awa to bide awa"
as we sailed out into salt water.
It was 4pm and a beautiful evening as we left the canal, toasting
the return to salt water with a dram each as we deflated the big
bow fenders and stowed them below until our return to the canal
in September.
There was little wind to speak of and we motored all the way to
Loch Aline fortified with a big farmers casserole supplied by
Robert's wife, Kathleen.
The light was
fading as we entered Loch Aline and dropped anchor close to our
mooring marker buoy. Total time spent under way about 23 hours,
with about 145 miles covered.
Sunday morning was rainy again so a large cooked breakfast was
the order as we set about raising our mooring chain from the seabed
and shackling on our mooring buoy and junk - a very messy business
with the foredeck and ourselves covered in Loch Aline's smelly
mud.
At last it was finished and we went out for 3 or 4 hours sailing
in the Sound of Mull in mixed weather ranging from about 5 knots
to 20 knots of wind from all different directions - typical Sound
of Mull sailing!
The boat sailed beautifully - easily reaching 7 knots hard on
the wind with only 15 degrees of heel. We all had a shottie on
the wheel still in the pouring rain until it was time to put on
the pasta bolognaise and head back to Loch Aline for my wife Ann
to pick us up in the car.
Back home for 9.30pm after a great weekend.
The boat gave no problems except for a small leak from the gland
of the engine sea cock, easily sorted with a nip up with a spanner
and the new wind instrument was faulty out of the box and is to
be replaced. Now hopefully we can enjoy the fruits of our labour
for the rest of the season.
Phil Brown
Harmony
Fair Isle 09
On
wir trip to an fae Shetland in June we twice visited North Haven
on Fair Isle. I hid fished roon the island in the sixties bit
hid nivver been in there. The hairber/basin wisna as safe then
as it is noo that the space atween the rock in the middle o the
entrance an the shore has been filled in wi boulders.
I mine bein anchored hale close ti the wast shore in a sou'easter for siven days in 1969, the same breeze that got the Longhope lifeboat, an fancied takin the chance ti see the neuk we lay in wi the storm howlin ower wir heids aff the top o the cliffs. We ran oot a maist o wir grub an lived on fitens(whitings).
We left Stronsay at 10am on 11th
a June an headed for the sooth end a Fair Isle. The win at first
wis very light bit wisna lang an ticklin up ti a force 5 fae the
norwast wi hivvy rain shooers an aince clear a Start Pint it got
a bit lumpy wi tide inti win. As it wis real fresh in the squalls
we hid 2 reefs in the main an 10 rolls in the jib. Mo did weel
in the very twisty motion a' the wye across. Vis wis poor bit
halfwye across it cleard an we cwid see the high cliffs on the
wast side o the island. It wis chavie richt ti aboot three mile
fae the lichthoose bit then the win eased an the sun came oot
so we shook oot the reefs hid a fine sail close up the East side.
As yi wid expect, there are some tide eddies roon the island bit
nithin ti worry aboot in settled wither.
We entered the weel marked hairber aroon 6pm an tied up ti the
pier, a good ane, ahin the island ferry Good Shephard an a Dutch
yacht. Tatties on an a dram. Two Norwegians arrived an oor later.
Tidal range is only 4/5 feet so the Scandies are comfi wi that!!
Jimmy Stout,the previous skipper and noo relief skipper o the
ferry came doon ti the pier for a yarn an filled us in wi some
info aboot the island. 
The Observatory which included a sma bar an café wis bein
demolished(bad luck there)and a new ane built on the same site
using prefabricated units.(As of mid September, they are havin
problems gittin the big barge in so rethinkin the transport).
We hid a short walk up the hill overlookin the hairber,sat a few
feet fae some fulmars an took some photies a Lotus doon in the
hairber. An affa bonny nicht. We wannert back ti the boat, hid
a nightcap an happet the heid.
Up early kine, hid a good breakfast
an set aff for a trek ti the sooth end far the spread oot village
is. There is a sma airfield far they git twa flights a day fae
Sumbrugh wi an 8 seater in summer. Fair Isle is only 3 miles lang
bit as yi can imagine the road ti the sooth end is bit langer!!
A gentle walk up fae the pier took us past the part-demolished
Observatory wi bonny views doon on Sooth Haven. Thirs jist a narra
road atween North an Sooth Havens wi a beach at either side an
yir amon birds richt awa, some strangers ti me so the book wis
oot a lot. We hid heather moor on the right an rough grass on
the left wi the high face a Sheep Rock prominent a' the wye doon
the road. As we walked doon the single track road toward the road
that goes af ti the richt up ti the airfield, we met twa lads
commin oor wye an they wirna gan ti speak until we said aye,aye.
Thir accents soondet sooth kine.Fit a worl' wir in!!!
Thirs very little habitation at the north pairt o the island wi
jist an antrin hoose bit as we went doon the road we started ti
see a hoose or twa an some parks wi a curn coos an some we hay
an tatties growin. There wis a lot a traps,fit for I dinna ken,
a' the wye doon the roadside.
We were seein
skua's, maistly great, bit a few arctics asweel on the moors alongside
the road.The greats niver came near us bit one arctic did a good
stuka job on us till we were presumably clear o it's nest. We
startet ti pass mare hooses noo an evin tho it wis a hale bonny
sunny day, wirna seein mony fowk. There are aboot 70 fowk on the
island. As we got closer ti the shoppie we wir gittin thirstier,
yi ken hoo it is, bit fin we got there it wis closed for denner
so we cairriet on the haf mile ti the sooth lichthoose, Skadan,
passin a scatterin a hooses on the wye an also the island fire
station, the size o' a sma gairden shed. Thir is a six hole pitch
an putt roon the lichthoose bit naebody wis playin that day. Plainty
sheep an toldies on it.
Sooth Hairber is jist ti the east o' the licht an tho it has a
jeety is got an affa rocky approach. Thir were a few al' rowin
boats hault up on grass an they were sittin in hallas in the turf.
There were quite a lot a hallas a' roon the top o' the beach so
it looks like there wis a fair fleet workin fae there a ae time.
The walled cemetery is doon at that end asweel so we had a look
in an as yi can imagine it wis affa interesting. The graves there
go back a lang time an three families were prominent including
Jimmy Stout's ane.
The road skirted roon ti the east
passin the rest o' the hooses so we took the detour on wir wye
back ti the shoppie an looked in ti twa
kirks, an
affa bonny they were. Thir wis a museum ahin the Methodist ane
that wisna open an the Church a Scotland ane also housed the self
service library!! A man in changing his books telt us ti cut across
the parks ti the shop an save twa three hunner yards so we did.
It still wisna open so I left Mo sittin outside it an headed across
ti the west side ti hae a look for wir anchorage of '69. Efter
crossin twa parks it wis easy wakkin on short grass up ti the
cliffs,maybe a mile.I wis seein a lot a birds noo, fae sma pipits
ti great skua's an even twa kine a terns nestin on the grass.The
skua's wir hale active noo an sometimes the first I kent wis the
swoosh o' ane scuffin ma heid. I recognised the third bay north
as the ane we were anchored at an cid see the rock that we swung
alongside for a week.
I sat for a file lookin doon an then headed back ti meet Mo at
the shop.
Be'in high kine, I cid look doon on the airstrip ti the north
o' ma, nestled in a flat bit a grun on the moor.
Efter we got wir refreshments,thir wisna an affa lot there, we
headed back north ti the boat,arriving aboot 4 a'clock.The Dutch
boat had sailed. We had an oor lyin in the sun an then Mo thocht
it wid be a good idea ti clean the teak cockpit seatin. It came
up bonny.
Efter wir mince an tatties I walked up the hill ti the west o'
the hairber and ower the moor ti a bay on the nw side o' the island
ti watch the puffins commin in ti feed thir young afore dark.
Crossin the moor wis something else!! Skua's, great an arctic
were a'wye.I 
found a great wi twa eggs an an arctic wi
one.I sat doon on the grassy bank wi hunners a burra's, abeen
the cliff an it wisna lang afore the puffins startet ti come in
in droves. Fit a show.I sat for half an oor an wannert back ti
the boat an commin ower the hill cid see Lotus lyin cosy in the
hairber ahead o' the Good Shepherd. Mo hid the kettle bilin so
hid a toddy or twa an happet the heid. It hid been a gran day.
On the go early on the Saturday ti see Jimmy as he wis takin Good
Shepherd across ti Sumburgh wi a curn fowk for a funeral. We said
wir cheerios an it wis aricht heist yi back.
It wis a privilege ti spen a couple
a days in sic a bonny, friendly place.
There's nae charges, there's plenty spare fenders if yi want them
an they even supply bottled water if yi dinna want the piped spring
water. Cases o' it on the pier.
I hope to go back next year around the same time or maybe a week
or two earlier. Onybody keen on a cruise there?
John Smith
Lotus.
Boxing day dawned bright and sunny.
It was a rare day for winter, bright sunshine, little wind and
about a foot of frozen snow. A good
day to be on the water.
I made a phone call to Ron Billing and arranged to meet him at
13.00, half an hour after low water. I followed this with another
call saying to meet me at 13.30 as my car got stuck in the snow.
I arrived at Findochty right on time to find not a trace of Snow.
I opened the hatch and was met with a strange smell from below.
The source was traced to a tin of Easy Start with a pin hole leak,
which was spraying into a locker.
My Bukh engine is original to the boat and is pre-glow plugs.
It has an ether tube in which you spray ether (Easy start) to
start the engine from cold.
I gave it a couple of minutes for the ether to vent from the boat
and used the tin to start the engine. I then disposed of the tin
ashore. The engine was running but, as it was so cold, I didn't
want to stop the engine as it may not restart without ether assistance,
so it was decided to motor down to Portknockie.
Once underway we toasted Christmas with suitable beverages and
chatted about this and that.
It was about half way to Portknockie when we noticed the waterfalls.
In three plac
es we saw waterfalls
going over the cliffs. Ron said that it was the first time in
over 50 years that he had seen them on that stretch of coast.
It wasn't raining and the snow had melted here days before, so
why they were flowing that day I have no idea.
We were soon at Portknockie and motored in to see if anyone was
about.
There were two walkers at the pier head and we exchange Christmas
greetings as we passed, but apart from them the harbour was deserted.
We then took photo's as evidence of Destino's grand Boxing Day
voyage to a foreign port before pointing the bows seaward and
back towards Findochty.The sun was shining and we enjoyed the
return journey. As we arrived, the sun was level with memorial
behind the Admirals and there was a nip in the air. We hadn't
been out for more than an hour, we hadn't even hoisted a sail,
but it had been thoroughly enjoyable.
It is for days like this that I keep Destino afloat over winter
and I can recomm
end
it to you all.
Bob Chapman
Destino