Some photos from around the Bay

An interesting dawn cloud formation, the Tall Ship Antigua, a pretty
little gaffer, Oban lifeboat after rescuing a yacht off Ferry Rocks,
the sun setting on Mull with enhancement and the Pharos dressed
overall for the Jubilee.

Old friends

On schedule an old ship of mine pulled into the Bay here in Oban this
evening. This is Waverley starting up again for the season and they
have picked a marvellous spell of weather to be here in the Western
Isles. Paid a quick visit and not much has changed, a few new faces
but plenty of old friends to meet again.

Easterly winds.

Back home from a lively old sail around Bute this weekend.  Some of my more observant readers noted that I wasn't going to be heading off in an Easterly wind again, due to the horror story that we had the other weekend, unfortunately with our recent weather I would have been tied up in Largs for the last two weeks.   So we blasted off, helped along by a stiff NE'ly, and made a handsome 7 knots up the west side of the island sheltered from the seas but not the winds with only a wee scrap of genoa unrolled.  We thought about taking up a mooring off the Kames Hotel but the winds were whipping up quite a bit of a sea over there by the time they had blown across the width of the Kyle, so we anchored off Bute in the wee bay opposite.  Despite there being a big lump of rock in the way the winds weren't prevented from squalling across from the shore and we had a bumpy old night with 40m of chain out.  At about 1:30 in the morning I had to make a few adjustments but we held and in the morning it was clear why when the anchor came up with a large lump of Argyll and Bute clay attached.  Today provided a fantastic sail back down the East Kyle and across to Largs, might need air conditioning if this keeps up though.
Yes, I might go out in an Easterly but can't say it makes for an easy sailing life.

Costa del Millport

Here at a mooring off Cumbrae basking in the sun after a lively sail from Largs. Also entertainment from a RYA instructor teaching his crew to pick up a mooring under sail.

Amazing technology

If you look closely at the photo you will see a little box marked
Verbatim plugged into the side of my laptop. It is actually a USB
flash drive with 8Gb of capacity, which roughly can store 2,000 music
tracks, 1,000 high resolution photos or a million standard Word
documents. With its small size it can remain plugged in and backup
the laptop as you go along. And the cost of this whizz of technology,
£1.50 from Amazon, amazing.

My tuppence worth.

It is an unfortunate truth that here in Europe we have all been living beyond our means for the last couple of decades.  Our Governments have been elected on  the promise of continued enrichment and we have happily accepted this as being without any kind of pay back in due course.  We now need to pay back the money and reduce the debts and the deficits but the reality of cutbacks is not proving popular with the voter.  Now all over the continent the people are voting in anti-austerity governments as they can't countenance living less well.  Today there are more demonstrations in Spain and the Greeks still cannot form a Government from the disparate members of parliament that have won seats.

I believe that most people are realistic to the need to cut back but are less enthusiastic about it affecting their own circumstances.   The Bankers should be taxed more heavily or Civil Servants need to work longer before getting their pension but when it is suggested that we might have to take a cut in pay, work longer hours or pay more tax that pain should be suffered by others not us.

As the old saying goes turkeys won't vote for Christmas so who is going to vote in a Government that will cause us to live less well?  I do however think that we are approaching the endgame that things are going to have to get a lot worse before they can begin to get better, we have a lot of bills to pay and it is going to be painful.  How do we do it, I'm afraid I don't have any solution, but I do think that the Islanders of the West Coast of Scotland must continue to have their vital lifeline ferry service.

Hi tech solution

Windy old day yesterday coming in from the NW. The wind whistles down
the Sound of Mull and when it meets the incoming tide at Lismore, near
the lighthouse, there is generally quite a choppy sea built up.
For our passenger comfort and safety we stick the stabiliser fins out
and this damps down all the rolling of the ship and keeps their coffee
and tea in the cup. In operation the fins stick out the side of the
ship about 3 metres and are vulnerable to damage if we went alongside
the pier and they were still out, so it is very important that they
are retracted and stowed before berthing. Our solution to ensuring
this happens is to place a lump of wood, which can't be missed, on the
engine controls when the fins are deployed. The engines will always
be in use as we approach the berth and the wood is in the way. Not
very elegant but it works.

Diver lost

Tragic event here yesterday when a diver was lost. I could hear the whole drama unfolding on the radio from the initial report through to the search being called off a few hours later. The team were diving in 32m of water on a wreck close to us, the SS Breda in Ardmucknish Bay, when a 54 year old failed to surface with his buddies. At the first report he had 15 minutes of air left, as time went on and there was no sign of him the tension was palpable as a half hour had passed and there was still no news. The other divers had gone back down with a spare tank but unfortunately there was nothing to report. The surface search went on for a few hours more but today the area is being searched by police and navy divers, all very tragic as later we saw the boat and the individuals being interviewed by the police and coastguard. It is a dangerous pursuit but I guess those who dive know that and accept the risks.  Cambridge News

Changes as ever

Back on board the Isle of Mull for a fortnight. The efficient and
timeous transportation of folk along with their vehicles and
accumulated stuff continues, with yours truly doing his part to help.
This is a Bank Holiday weekend so we have been particularly busy with
people maybe heeding the Government and doing the staycation thing.
Which will help the local economy and indeed Caledonian MacBrayne in
getting them there.

The Orkney and Shetland ferry services called Northlink are owned by
the Scottish Government and managed by Caledonian MacBrayne. The
contract for this service was up for tender and renewal this year.
Yesterday it was announced that the contract has been won by Serko
plc. who will take over in three months for a six year term. Cal Mac
management will clearly be upset about this and it has also got a few
on here talking and considering the future as all of our Clyde and
Western Isles services are up for tender next year. Change is
inevitable, except from vending machines.

The photo is of Duart Castle which we pass up to 14 times a day, not a
bad view from the office window. Great weather since I joined, wall
to wall sunshine just a pity that it is so chilly, snow caps on all
the distant hills, but then it is May.

Wiser after the event.

Out boating this weekend, off to Troon on the Saturday then a great sail the next day up the West side of Bute, about 29' doing it in 5 hours with a wee bit of genoa out, same tack all the way.  Initially we anchored opposite Tighnabruaich but the wind got up from the East so I thought a move to the sheltered waters of Colintraive would be a better bet for the night.  We picked up one of the Hotel's mooring buoys and initially all was well but by midnight the wind was screaming down the hill straight of the shore.  By 7:30 in the morning I'd had enough, we let go and motored down the Kyle with the wind on the port beam, by Loch Striven it was 40 knots plus, but we persevered.  It was a rough old passage across to Great Cumbrae when the NE wind coming down the river met the East wind screaming down the hill at Largs and the seas were all over the place.  Got into the marina and amazingly managed to get onto the berth without any casualties, and minimal shouting, soaked with salt spray and our little legs had all gone jelly like.  Forecast was a NE 5 or 6 but the local conditions around Largs and Loch Striven funnel and increase the wind to gale force.  On our drive back at Kip we noticed a yacht out with full sail up, 6 miles further south he would have been on his beam ends.  From now on I'm not going out anywhere when the wind is from the East.

Third sail of the season

Topsy turvy weather this spring so far, March gave us a mini-heatwave and April has seen chilly winds with lots of showers.  I bought two new sails for this season, the main sail fitted fine but I couldn't get the genoa to roll up on the furling gear, due to it being too long. The local agent, who measured the boat up for the sails, was very helpful and without any hesitation arranged for the genoa to be altered so that it would fit correctly.

Today was the first chance to try it out and all is well, more than well, what a difference in the performance of the boat.  Can't wait for the warm weather to arrive and get some long passages in.  Today was an anti-clockwise tour of Great Cumbrae with a gentle wee breeze, gloves, hats and a warm cup of soup to keep us going.

AWOL handle

This was our first sail of the year, felt a bit like joining the
frostbite series though, really quite cold and damp. The new sails I
have for the boat aren't a complete success yet, the agent for the
manufacturer is coming down to Largs during the coming week so
hopefully we can address some of the issues.
Shortly after passing Millport, on our way up towards the Kyles of
Bute we noticed that our winch handle had disappeared. It is a
floating type but unfortunately you have to know where it is floating
to retrieve it. So anyone finding a grey and red winch handle in the
vicinity of Great Cumbrae please get in touch, valuable reward.

Afloat, eventually.

A chilly old day but the wind had died down so Tarawa was launched back into the water.  Everything went well, pity that I made a cock up berthing the boat, a bit of polishing has managed to cover up most of the bump on the bow though.  Strange also that all the electrics on the mast work when they are easily accessible on the hard standing but as soon as they go beyond easy reach when the mast is stepped, they cease working.  There must be some pithy seafarer saying to cover this?

Snow calls off play

This was the day, scheduled three weeks ago, for my boat to be launched.  Unfortunately given the time between booking and action I wasn't able to schedule a decent day as well.  I drove down to Largs first thing, past the snow covered hills and frozen loch at the top of Hallie Brae to see the Largs Channel was covered with white horses whipped up by the stiff Northerly wind.  I had a chat with the hoist crew who confirmed my own thoughts that there was no way we could mount the mast and then launch the boat safely given the strong gusty wind and the snow lying on the deck of the boat.  I waited until lunchtime but there was no let up so I'm back there tomorrow to have another go.

Work up time

Home now and we have been beavering away at getting the boat ready for
the water. I have scheduled the launch for this Tuesday the 3rd so we
have been restoring the winter ravages.
Maybe it was the mild winter but the decks were as filthy as I have
ever seen them with a mixture of algae and coal dust in every nook and
cranny. Fortunately a pressure washer is a wonderful thing and an
hour later and all is back to new again.
Please note the shiny hull, post box red propeller and immaculate
anti-fouling, many thanks to Julie, Dave & Lynne.

March madness

Dear loyal readers. As you will know from previous posts, I
frequently moan and complain about the weather in this part of the
world. However, if you live here in Scotland you must have noticed
how very un-Scottish the weather has been of late, particularly given
that it is March. It may be that the contrast between what we
normally expect and the recent cloudless skies with warm sun that
makes it all that more enjoyable.
We had a glorious trip South to Colonsay this afternoon and were back
home and all tied up for 5. Loads of passengers doing the round trip,
£10.50 for five hours on board, can't be bad.
The view out the cabin window was too tempting to not take a photo, so
here you are. Looking across at Mull over Oban Bay taken at 7:40 this
evening, British Summer Time.

Off out into the Atlantic

I've included a picture of one of our sailors on the controls of a
winch down aft, keeping us in place when we were alongside in Coll.
I've included the photo to give a bit of colour, because at this time
of year there sure isn't any ashore as you can see from my photo of
Coll Pier.
I guess that I don't know what it's like to live there, so I shouldn't
make judgements. Ten of their Primary School children came up onto
the bridge and they were a delight, mostly kitted out with wellies,
which seems to be the norm if you come from there.

Heading out West.

Some interesting news today that we are going to be doing the Saturday run out to Coll and Tiree.  Hopefully you are getting the same fine weather as we have here in Oban and as it looks likely to continue over the weekend, it should make for a pleasant trip out there and back.  Takes about two and half hours to get to Coll and then an hour between the islands.

Perk of the job

If the ship owner wants to operate his vessels he has to man them,
then these men require somewhere to sleep so need cabins and beds and
if that wasn't enough he has to feed and water them as well.
Fortunately on here we have a new cook who is doing us proud. If
anyone actually did manage to work through that menu, and some have a
go, then it seems unlikely that they would be up to doing much else.
Breakfast isn't on there but as you can imagine it comprises the usual
couple of eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, slice etc. to get you
started on the day.

Chasing rainbows

It was a beautiful day but then here on the West coast no day would be
complete without a little bit of rain. There was a few isolated
showers about and this one we chased across the Firth to Oban which
had a splendid accompanying rainbow.

Looking down on Oban Bay

A view from Pulpit Hill looking down at the ship and McCaigs Tower in the background. Getting chilly without any blanketing clouds.

And it's good bye to New York, hello Craignure

I have been home nearly a week now and joined the ship yesterday to
take up the vital lifeline service to the Isles of Mull and Colonsay.
Looking back at our holiday some memories of our visit are Grand
Central Terminal and its wonderful marble staircase, balconies, gold
chandleries and green ceiling, another is the girl ahead of me in the
queue at Just Bagels ordering a "toasted onion bagel, the dough out,
with a scallion tofu cream cheese filling and a skinny de-caff latte
to go" and nobody turns a hair. Lots of other things like the night
time view of the city from the Empire State Building, and that there
is a Starbucks on nearly every corner.

There is a definite buzz to the city, it's a very fast paced
environment and I would think to live there you would have to be
willing to deal with the hustle and bustle. There are masses of things
to do, in our case we found a week of being a tourist was enough for
our levels of energy, but if you stayed for a fortnight you would
still only be scratching the surface to take up all the opportunities
to be entertained. It's probably a great place to be young and there
are many young people about but to live well I think you would need
money, a lot of money. Coming back to the West end of Glasgow it all
seems a bit slow I'm afraid, but at least we can afford it.

One of our guides explained that an attraction of the city is its
diverse population but he felt that, unlike Europe, it is not a
melting pot more of a mixing pot where many different people exist
together but continue to maintain their own culture. Manhattan has
its China Town and Little Italy, not too sure where the other ethnic
groups are but I'm sure they exist if you care to look. Anyway a
fascinating place and one I hope that we will be able to visit again
in the future. In the meantime back to my rather sedate life here.

A job has come up with Calmac as Safety and Security Manager based in
Gourock, pretty much the same as I was doing with Waverley. I have
the qualifications and experience but do I want to go back to an
office based job again? Applications have to be in by the end of the
month, so some time to muse over it.

USS Intrepid Museum

Friday and for our last day here in New York; we visited the retired
aircraft carrier USS Intrepid moored at Pier 86 on the Hudson River.
Along with the carrier there are a large number of aircraft including
a British Airways Concorde and a Cold War submarine the USS Growler on
display.
We took up the opportunity to have a personal tour of the Concorde
conducted by an amazingly enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. This
particular aircraft held the record for the fastest crossing of the
Atlantic at 2 hours 53 minutes, pity about the fuel consumption and
the sonic boom that accompanied each flight.
The USS Growler was a submarine from the Cold War period and carried
four sea to surface missiles that were equipped with nuclear warheads
for "deterrent" purposes. The propulsion system was diesel electric
with electric motors as the main engines.

9/11 Memorial

A sculpture that survived the attacks
displayed nearby in Battery Park

Thursday and we visited the memorial for those who died as a result of
the attacks on the World Trade Centre. It consists of two enormous
square sided waterfalls with reflecting pools, covering about half of

the area occupied by the Towers. Surrounding the pools are walls or
parapets in bronze, these are inscribed with all the names of those
who died on that day, also those killed on the previous attack in
1993. The names are arranged by affiliation rather than
alphabetically, so for example those who worked in a particular firm
or were part of a fire crew are together in the same area. The
building in the background is going to become a exhibition which will
have information on all of the victims. If you want to visit you have
to book ahead on line, select a half hour slot that is available, then
print out your pass. Seems a good idea to avoid crowding and big
queues.
As there was a lot of visitors, many of them school kids running about
and making a din the atmosphere was more of a tourist attraction than
a memorial, but seeing a family taking a brass rubbing of a name
added a poignancy and reminder as to the reality of the monumentl.
All around there is construction work going on creating the
replacements for the Twin Towers. One of these is going to be the
highest building in the US when completed.

All at sea

As you can see by the pictures we went on a boat trip on Wednesday.
Catching a ferry from W 34th Street it took us right round the South
end of Manhattan with the skyscrapers of the Financial District, then
up the East River under the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. On our
return we diverted out to Liberty and Ellis Islands to view the
statue. Such a lovely day with blue skies and warm winds, I think
that the few clouds are mainly aeroplane vapour trails.

Top of the world

We took the lift to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building last
night. What can you say? Fantastic views all around, little sign of
energy conservation but then it does look great.

On the tourist trail

The day started with a Bagel breakfast, confusing to a Scotsman abroad
under pressure with all the locals around. How do you want the eggs?
Easy, sunny side up, turned. Cheese, yes, what type, Swiss, Cheddar,
Montery Jack, Peppper. The humbling went on so that I ended up with
this enormous plate of protein and a foil wrapped bagel with
everything. Well I didn't need to worry about lunch.
Julie was off to the Conference at the UN and I caught the downtown
tour bus, this took me all the way South to Wall Street and back up
the East side, fantastic. I would recommend this way of getting your
bearings around the city, the guide was very amusing, though I doubt
the German and Norwegian visitors understood much with the fast
delivery. Saying that the locals speak at such a pace I have a
problem at times, or maybe it's just an age thing.
I alighted at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel then walked up to Grand
Central Station. I knew what it looked like from photos but the
reality quite took my breath away. Entry to the building is through
fairly non-descript doors and then you are presented with this amazing
space. Ceiling high windows at either end, which are actually
walkways between the two sides of the station, marble balconies to the
right and left with a vaulted ceiling painted in green with the
constellations painted on in white. In the basement there are a large
number of restaurants and the famous whispering arches, where your
voice is carried across the ceiling of the vault.
In the evening we went on an open top bus tour, the magical tour, of
the city and across the East River to Brooklyn to view the skyscrapers
from the mainland. Fantastic sights and Julie has just about thawed
out from the experience.

Visit to New York

We must be getting less cautious, we arrived at the airport to join
the very back of the check in line for our flight to Newark, everyone
else was there already. Unfortunately today was the day that
Continental was changing over to United Airlines and all check ins
were being done manually. I think that took an hour and then straight
up stairs and one of the last to board, we had been told that we had
great seats, great if you feel that you need to keep an eye on the
wing that is. 8 hours later we are being fingerprinted and
photographed by US Immigration and welcome to America.

The "Super Shuttle", that we booked to take us into Manhattan left a
lot to be desired. It is supposed to leave every 15 minutes but we
were left hanging about for an hour in the airport and stewing in the
bus until it was full plus there was a Dutchman in the back speaking
to a couple of Danish women, and I felt boring for Europe, anyone who
thinks putting leaf spinach into a pan and cooking it is awesome,
needs to get out more.

We are staying in the Manhattan in Times Square, 16th floor with a
great view out onto the streets below. Right in the centre of things,
we went out for a couple of beers in an Celtic bar before having a
lovely Italian meal in a popular restaurant. We were aiming to try
and stay up to avoid the worst of the jet lag but I couldn't keep
going so I think it was about 8pm EST (1am GMT) when we hit the hay.

Today we took a bus tour and walked around Central Park, and guess
what you're only allowed to go anti-clockwise, and everyone does!!
Also smoking is banned in the park, yes no outdoor smoking, can't see
it working in Glasgow.

Back on the road/water again

All repairs completed and passed by surveyors who said that it was a good job.  We picked up the run at 4 this afternoon, did a round trip to Mull where the gangway has broken down, again, and then tied up in Oban for the evening.  Thank you to the Hebridean Isles, our replacement, who headed off south to resume the Islay run.  As you can imagine we are all taking things very cautiously at the moment.

Nearly there

Not too much longer and we'll be back in service again. Friday
afternoon now and this is the last of the welding being completed, a
coat of paint tonight and another one tomorrow morning will cover up
the new work. A surveyor from Lloyds is attending in the morning to
check things out and sign us off to let us carry passengers again.
It's been a long week for everyone.
The weather has taked a turn for the better too with hardly any rain
today, the Polish welders will be looking forward to heading back to
the East Coast.

Good progress

Today sees real progress towards the repair work being completed. The
replacement steel for the shell of the hull is now in place and the
internal work can now be completed. There is a part that requires a
bent piece of steel, not having a rolling mill nearby the application
of heat and a chain block will hopefully make the correct curve.
Clever guys, but I guess they have done this kind of work before.
I have included a picture of the visor in use as it may not be
entirely clear to all of my readers what I'm talking about. I imagine
that it is called a visor because of its similarity to that fitted on
a suit of armour.
It is hoped that the work will be completed on Friday evening, get a
coat of paint and then be checked by a surveyor on Saturday morning.
If all goes to that plan we should be back in service that afternoon.

Work continues

A couple more photos showing how the repair work is coming along.
Since these were taken the steel plate is about to be offered up and
welded in place. Then the strengthing members inside will need to be
welded in.
The repair team estimate two days of welding work which takes us
through to Friday evening then the repair has to be surveyed, hose
tested for water tightness and painted. I think we are looking at
getting back into service by Saturday afternoon at the earliest now,
which will make it a week from the incident.
Still raining here in Oban, hasn't stopped since Monday morning but
mild at 10.5 C