Western Isles Cruise
23rd to 25th
May 2014
Friday 23rd May 2014
Due to our
planned attendance at the forthcoming “Viking Cruise” which would require me to
travel out to Denmark on the 28th of May with Tra Bhui in tow, we
would only be able to attend the first weekend of the week long Western Isles
Cruise.
The 140 mile
journey from our home just north of Glasgow to the rally’s starting point at
Salen on the Ardnamurchan peninsular would take us three and a half with a
ferry crossing or 170 miles and 4 and a half hours driving if we chose to miss
out the ferry crossing. This may seem a long way to go for a day’s sailing, but
it gave us a chance to not only sail Tra Bhui before heading to Denmark, but to
see if new rigging, fittings and sails and instruments which had been installed
over the winter worked OK, as well as allowing us to catch up with friends in
the Drascombe Association in Scotland.
We left
surprisingly early on the Friday morning (9.00am) given that everything was in total
disarray the day before due tom me having just returned to the UK; and headed
north towards Corran where we would take the short ferry crossing across Loch Linnhe
cutting an hour or so from our journey.
The journey
north is always a pleasant trip no matter what the weather conditions are like
as it takes us through some of the nicest and most dramatic scenery in
Scotland. We made our usual stop for a late breakfast (coffee and bacon rolls)
at the visitor center in Ballachulish before arriving at Corran just before
13.00hrs. A minor drama occurred at Onich when the offside trailer mudguard
dropped onto the tyre due to a weld on the 40mm x
40mm angle iron support bracket breaking. A temporary repair was quickly made
using some odd bits of cord and rope which allowed us to continue.
The ferry across
the Corran Narrows is a somewhat surreal affair if your car is towards the
front of the vehicle deck. You face out of the side of the ferry as the ramps
are angled away from the bows. If there is a tidal current flowing through the
Corran Narrows the ferry has to “ferry glide” across which means that it
heads into the current slightly angled
in the direction it wants to head in and the current pushes it across sideways.
Sitting in your car you are looking out one direction while the ferry points
not at your destination but at a distant point either up the loch or out to
sea, but you still arrive at the slipway on the other side all the same!
Arriving at
Salen in the middle of the afternoon we found that Bob and Margaret (the Rally
organisers) who had launched their Drifter 22 the day before had just boiled
the kettle so there was time for afternoon tea before we rigged and launched
Tra Bhui, or rather I rigged Tra Bhui while Kathleen went for a walk with the
excuse of booking a table at the local hotel for dinner.
The rigging went
without a hitch and I decided to erect our new tent while still on dry land as
access all around the boat would be easy. This was the first time that the tent
had been put up in earnest. The tent fitted well as it had done when we had
mocked it up at home apart from the front corners where I had forgotten to
allow for the shrouds. This was a minor problem and one which will require a
slight modification at a later date.
With our gear
for the weekend aboard Tra Bhui was soon floating just offshore where I
struggled to drop the rudder. The rudder which had been modified and which was
held in place by new mounts refused to drop into place, despite having been dry
fitted in my workshop at home.
Being engrossed
in my ongoing battle with the rudder I failed to notice the dropping tide until
I felt Tra Bhui’s keel strip touch the bottom. Too late I discovered we were
aground and despite the immediate assistance of 4 others we were unable to push
Tra Bhui into deeper water. Embarrassingly we were aground at the bottom of the
slipway just a few yards from the pontoons where everyone else was berthed, and
as the tide fell further Tra Bhui gently lay down on her bilge rubbers until
the tide came back in some 7 hrs. later. I am sure I photos were taken of our
predicament although I have not seen any yet!
As a quick fix
for the rudder issue I removed the new bottom guide bracket that I had fitted
over the winter while Tra Bhui was sitting high and dry. This was simply a
matter of removing 4 screws that held it in place. The screws did not penetrate
the hull but were set into the mass of glass fiber around the bottom of the
rudder casing – or so I thought.
With our car and
trailer parked up in the garden of the pontoon owner’s house and with nothing
else to do but wait for the tide we went for dinner. The hotel which has been
for sale for the best part of a year was busy and doing good custom. Kathleen
had managed to talk us into a great window table in the front corner restaurant
where we had a good view of the waterfront and the comings and goings
associated with the hotel.
We managed to
stretch dinner out until 10pm by which time we were the only customers left in
the restaurant. Feeling that we had
staid long enough we walked back to the pontoons to find Tra Bhui still high
and dry. Sitting in the car to avoid the midges we soon nodded off and when I
awoke at 12.45 Tra Bhui was just starting to float again. Leaving Kathleen
asleep I broke out the oars and moved Tra Bhui around to the pontoon where I
found a 27 foot gap between two of the other boats that would just accommodate
Tra Bhui’s 26’ 6” length.
After dragging a
grumpy wife from the car we settled down for a night on board only to become
aware of running water. Getting up to investigate I lifted the floorboards to
discover that we were gradually filling up with water! Some immediate pumping
was required to empty the bilge, but it was obvious that it was starting to
fill again. Judging that we were not about to sink we settled back down to
sleep, but I found myself waking every hour or so to check on the water level
and to pump again when required. Not our best night afloat!
Saturday 24th May
After breakfast
on the Saturday morning I set out to investigate the water ingress. The obvious
starting point was the rear compartments around the rudder slot where I had
removed the screws holding the rudder guides. These were to my surprise
completely dry. By removing more floorboards, I eventually found that water was entering the cockpit bilge from
behind one of the glass fiber ribs that support the floorboards and which give
the hull strength. It turned out that water was entering one of the screw holes
which was not as I thought into solid glass fiber, but which opened into a small
gap between the hull‘s inner and outer mouldings. This gap opened out into the void formed
by the rib, allowing the water to run into the cockpit bilge. With the tide
still rising it was a simple job to beach Tra Bhui and to seal the offending
hole (s) with some epoxy putty.
The planned day’s
sail was to be down Loch Sunart to a beach and a sheltered anchorage. As we had
spent time beaching Tra Bhui and plugging the holes the rest of the boats had
set sail before we were finally ready to leave. With Kathleen on the helm and
with all sails raised we had a great run down Loch Sunart catching the other
boats as they stopped for lunch.
Rather than stop
for lunch we decided to turn and start beating back towards Salen as by now it
was early afternoon and we wanted time to wash and change before joining
everyone for a meal later. When we passed the anchored boats it became apparent
that everyone else must have had the same idea as anchors were being pulled up
and sails raised for the return trip.
The beat back to
Salen provided some excellent sailing as
boats tried to out sail each other, but for us it highlighted a problem with
our new main sheets. I had replaced the mainsheet and blocks that came with Tra
Bhui with new larger and longer sheets and new blocks. Taking advice from the
DA forum I had purchased a ratchet fiddle block for the mainsheet rather than a
fiddle block with a cam cleat. We had used a fiddle block and a cam cleat on
our Lugger which had worked great, but advice from others via the Forum had
suggested that a ratchet block would be better – wrong! – wrong! Wrong!
The mainsheet
was not in contact with enough of the block to allow it to be adequately
gripped, so the ratchet mechanism did not work at all and the mainsheet had to
be held by brute force. Kathleen was unable to hold the mainsheet for any
length of time and I felt as though my arms had been pulled out of their
sockets by the time we dropped our sails at Salen. The ratchet block has now
been replaced by a fiddle block and cam cleat!
As a bribe to
entice Kathleen to come along to the Rally and as we had slept on board for one
night and would shortly be sleeping on board for three weeks, I had booked us
into Ardsheilach Lodge which is an
excellent B&B in Acharacle. We had
stayed there before during a previous rally we had great expectations and we were not disappointed.
While I tidied
up the boat at Salen Kathleen decided to run to Ardsheilach wearing her sailing
clothes and foul weather gear. This decision may have been influenced by me mistakenly
telling her that the time was 2 hrs. later than it actually was, leading her to
think she had only minutes to bathe and dress for the evening meal which was
being held at Ardsheilach; where we were staying. Oh how she laughed at that one when
she found out!! I really must learn to read my watch!
We had a
fantastic meal at Ardsheilach with everyone in attendance. Meals at Drascombe
Rallies always turn out well, but this was especially good as Jill who owns Ardsheilach
is a first class cook which was appreciated by the good company around us.
Sunday 25th May
On Sunday
morning we had a leisurely breakfast before driving over to Salen – well I
drove over Kathleen walked as not only would it give her some exercise but it
would allow her to miss de rigging Tra Bhui. The boats which were here for the
full week planned to sail westwards towards the open sea today, but were not
leaving until late morning / early afternoon.
We decided that
with a longish drive home we would pull Tra Bhui out rather than sail for a
couple of hours as we would only be able to go down the loch for an hour or so
before we needed to head back. Instead we planned to head back via Fort William
missing out the ferry at Corran. This would also allow us to stop at the
Caledonian Canal where we hoped to meet with Jack O’Keefe who was taking part
in the Raid Caledonia – a boat race along the canal from Corpach (Fort William)
to Inverness. Jack and his crew David Camlin would be taking part in the Viking
Cruise that we were going to and we thought that it would be a good chance to
not only say hello, but to see a Drascombe in action during a race.
Very kindly the
owner of the marina had offered to weld the mudguard bracket for us while the trailer was in his garden. This was one less thing to have to do before
I left for Denmark on Wednesday (or so I thought)
The road from
Salen to Fort William hugs the west coast to Lochailort before joining the
Mallaig road and heading inland towards Fort William. It is a great drive and
one which we never tire of doing. On reaching Corpach we left the car and
trailer just off the roadside and headed north along the canal on foot.
We caught the
boats taking part in the Raid as they were leaving the last lock on “Neptune’s
Staircase”. Tyboat was clearly visible
as Jack can justly claim to fly more flags than another boat around him. The
canal sections of the raid are designated for rowing and we were not envious at all as we watched
Jack and David try and propel Tyboat
into a strong headwind using a pair of oars and Jack’s secret weapon a “Yuloh”
which is a glorified sculling oar?
Back at the car
it was time for lunch / afternoon tea, but as we have found before the Fort
William area is a barren wasteland when it comes to coffee shops after 4pm on a
Sunday afternoon. The Morrison
Supermarket however was open and still serving so we stopped for a sandwiches
and coffees before heading home.
On Loch Lomond
side as we were approaching Tarbert the weld on the mudguard broke again.
Necessitating some very temporary repairs to get us home.
Overall it was a
great weekend and although we did not do a lot of sailing it was reassuring to
know that everything was working before we headed to Denmark.
Miles sailed 14
To do list
before Viking Cruise
·
Reset bottom rudder guide
·
Change Mainsheet Block
·
Extend mizzen mast and raise
boom to allow clearance over outboard
·
Re-weld mudguard
·
Fit the front deck section
(after cutting it in two and hinging the two parts)
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