Not just for drying clothes.

Living in a flat in the West end we have high ceilings so a pulley in
the kitchen is a great place to dry clothes. Also a good place to dry
my home made pasta. Easier than I thought to make, but not on the
first attempt I will admit, but this second batch was tasty and very
filling.

Getting to grips

My cousin Judith, from the far flung fields of Lincolnshire, dropped by and we took her out for a wee cruise.  Usual weather requiring a double reefed main and a handkerchief of genoa.  Once underway Judith was on the helm.

And you say that the boat could capsize and we would all drown if I get this wrong?

Actually it's not all that difficult.

Steady as she goes, aye aye.

Quite fun this, what was all the fuss about?

Alternative activites for windy days

Dear reader, as you know we have been on the boat this week, sailing around our local Clyde waters. As luck would have it we have been subject to a windy spell of weather, nearly all from an Easterly direction. On Wednesday at Largs it was like the Levanter off Gibraltar, screaming down the hill and giving me the willies about even getting off the berth, so we decided to head South to the Robert Burns Museum in Alloway, near Ayr.  For any of you that have been to a supper at the end of January or appreciate the musings of our national wordsmith this is a good day out.

There is the museum itself, where there is a collection of memorabilia on Burns life and some interesting interactive displays.  At the back of the building a cafe restaurant which opens onto a well laid out garden.

Then you can take the short walk down a path to the cottage where Burns was born.  On the way you pass some fun sculptures of characters from his poems, wee sleekit, cow'rin tim'rous beastie here, which for those of you who know your Burns, which I don't, will appreciate was a metaphor for the working class farmers being downtrodden by the land owners.

A Tam o Shanter wind vane, pointing to the East wind.



The cottage.

The bed that Rabbie and his siblings were born in.

The grate.

Brig o' Doon bridge where Tam's mare lost her tail to the pursuing witch, who couldn't follow them over the running water, the River Doon.  Good day out and if you're like me and find the Scot's and local Ayrshire words unfathomable then there are useful translations next to all of the scripts on display.  Maybe something I need in the blog to explain what I'm on about?

Windy with showers

We have been having a few days away on the boat, not going too far
just around the Firth of Clyde. We were thinking of returning to
Glasgow this morning as the forecast was pretty grim but Julie
insisted that we have a go and it was one of the best days of the
season.
Great sail over to Kilchattan Bay for lunch and we are here in Largs
in a calm sunny evening. Tomorrow is also forecast to be horrible
too, well we'll wait and see.
It was great to see Brian and Ian yesterday for what again turned out
to be a great day's sail. Ian proved to be a terrific Quartermaster
on the wheel and Brian wasn't bad when he got a chance. Should have
taken a photograph when they were on board.
Apologies about the dippy photo of me cooking a tuna rice recipe but I
was told it had to go on, something about women's lib.

Unfortunate day for some

I don't particularly like displaying other people's misfortunes but
they are a diversion from the normal routine. This morning a poor
yachtsman found himself on Lady's Rock being buffeted by a strong ebb
tide. Not clear how he managed it, there was little wind, we'll be
generous and assume that it was his engine that failed at a critical
time. Lady's Rock is at the South end of Lismore Island and we pass
14 or so times a day, as I have posted in the past you have to be wary
of the tides around here otherwise you could easily end up on the
beach. The Oban lifeboat was out there in double quick time and
hauled him off before the tide went out too far, so hopefully not too
much damage.

Racing around the Bay

Lots of yachts about for West Highland Week which is based here in
Oban. This was the line up this morning for the round Lismore race,
starting just off the entrance of Oban Bay. There must have been up
to 60 or 70 yachts involved. Whether by design or good fortune they
haven't got in the way of the vital lifeline service, which
incidentally has been pretty busy since I joined with the English
school holidays now started.

Younger visitors

My brother and family unexpectedly stayed overnight. Here's Eva and
Felix my niece and nephew enjoying our easy chairs.

Terror on the high seas.

A few years ago, after a visit to the London Boat Show, I was
convinced by a very nice man at the Jeckells Sails stand that the
thing I needed in my life to make my sailing pleasure complete, was a
Cruising Chute. For those not in the know this is a large, very large
and colourful sail. About 700 square feet of cloth that when filled
with anything more than a gentle zephyr inspires gut wrenching terror
in the crew.
Safe to say it doesn't get many outings as the wind never seems to be
quite right. Today we had another go, up it went and off we went at a
smart lick, unfortunately with me hanging onto a line attached to the
top and twisted all around the sail. Well we had it up for a few
minutes and as you can see David got a lot of amusement out of it, and
the picture of me reflects my thoughts.

It is July?

Just back from a brisk sailing weekend with Hamish and Julie. We
headed up the River to Loch Goil and picked up one of the visitor
moorings at Loch Goilhead, then ashore for an excellent meal in the
Hotel and the scenery out the window is fantastic, very fjord like.
Overnight, I was woken by the sound of the rain battering off the
deckhead which was to set the theme for Sunday. The return sail was
quite exciting with the odd gust up to 35 knots and lumpy seas from
the west once we were past Wemyss Bay. You'll note that we are all
togged up with full waterproofs over fleece with gloves, I had
forgotten how painful rain can be on the bare face. Well it is July
in Scotland.

Relief as Britons are allowed to use hose pipes again.

THOUSANDS of relieved gardeners are finally able to water the swamp-like areas attached to their houses, as the hosepipe ban is lifted.

Many homeowners had been concerned that, unless the ban was lifted soon, they would be unable to keep their lawns submerged to the depth required to support larger marine life like catfish and snapping turtles.

Accountant and keen gardener Nathan Muir said: "With only 38 inches of rainfall since January, the mangrove region of our garden, which I navigate with a type of one-man hovercraft, was beginning to dry out very slightly and the alligators which arrived in February were getting a little bit irritable.

"If only the ban had been lifted a little earlier I might still have a pet dog and a left arm below the elbow, but better late than never."

Julian Cook, a retired doctor living in Devon, said: "If I fill the garage with water then open the door, I can ride the wave on my canoe past the first few rafts of feral starving children and my wife can pick off the rest with a high-pressure hose.

"That might give me a chance of reaching the ruins of the supermarket, where I can skin-dive for precious cans of food."

The lifting of the ban has triggered a kind of watering mania among some homeowners, who are hosing with wild abandon their gardens, cars, carpets, laptops, and priceless stamp collections.

Housewife Carolyn Ryan of Durham  said: "The ground floor of my house is already four feet under water thanks to torrential rain, but it was missing something. 

"Now I can wade out to get the hose, hook it up to the bathroom tap and create a beautiful cascading water feature down the stairs.

"Plus I just watered a horse, for the sheer hell of it.

 

Couple of interesting yachts

On our transits we pass hundreds of yachts and motor boats. Most are
of the white fibre glass variety, like my own, but occasionally there
are some more interesting examples. The first is Prince Philips old
yacht Bloodhound, looking very elegant. The other is French, built in
aluminium with an interesting rig, the main mast is far aft with a
small mainsail and a couple of large headsails. It is also equipped
with half a dozen solar panels and two wind powered generators.

Yacht race

While a large part of the UK struggles under the weather, and I'll say
it quietly lest the weather gods hear, we are having a great spell
here. Today was the round Mull race from Oban which takes place over
the next three days. This is looking out towards the North entrance
to the Bay, where we transit 13 or 14 times a day, good job we made it
in before they set off.

Pics around the Bay.

A strange weather day, started off with a glorious sunrise. This is
looking up towards Ben Nevis from Craignure.

On our way over to Oban
we could see thick fog patches rolling out from the Bay, it looked
like the hills were on fire.

  Looking back out to sea it looks like a
new mountain has appeared near the Island of Lismore, whereas it is
actually just a hill of fog.

In between showers it's a lovely day

One minute it's like this and then the next heavy rain and rubbish
visibility. Still it's nice and warm and there is hardly any wind as
you can see, not much good for the yachts but makes for an easy life
for us berthing the ship.
Lots of coaches going back and forth along with truck loads of
building materials .

Walk down the Kerrera Sound

I joined the ship last week and we have been doing good business with
lots of traffic over the weekend and again today. Weather has been to
say the least a bit mixed, but in comparison to other parts of the
country we are doing pretty well.
We were tied up by 20:00 this evening so I went for a walk down to the
Kerrera Ferry, about 4 miles, so I should sleep well tonight.

Weather calls of activities

We spent a bumpy night on the mooring at Millport and given the
forecast of Easterly 6 with rain we decided to return to Largs and
draw a line under the cruise for this week. We had three lovely days,
so must be grateful for that.
Undeterred by a bit of rain and wind Lynne was all for the crew
walking/stretching our way into Largs for an ice cream at Nardini's.
This is us on the return leg beating our way back down the prom.
Please note the Calmac ferry in the background continuing to carry out
the vital lifeline service to Cumbrae despite it all.
As the day progressed it got worse and by 4 in the afternoon we were
experiencing gusts up to 45 knots in the marina. Better to be tucked
up in Glasgow to watch the rain come down here and we visited
Kelvingrove Galleries and the Brewdog pub across the way yesterday,
Friday.

Quiet nights

We have done well with the weather, sunshine and fair winds all the
way to Tarbert on Loch Fyne today. Last night was so still, as you
can see from the photo, a decent paper clip attached with string to
the boat would have sufficed to hold us anchored in place.

Sailing weather

Off on a cruise with John & Lynne, fine sail up the East Kyle for us,
but not so good for others as you can see. This is the spit just off
Colintraive on the mainland shore. We saw the yacht sailing away a
few hours later so hopefully not too much damage to the vessel, can't
speak for the owner's ego though. Or maybe he was carrying out a hull
inspection? Onwards to Tarbert and hopefully langoustines for dinner.

Farewell old paddler

Monday morning saw my old ship heading back south after completing her
West Coast cruising. I understand that due to the clement weather, we
have had recently, she completed all of her timetable. Which in my
memory is the first time in a long time.
I'm heading home tomorrow having done my two weeks on board, it's been
a busy fortnight which is good. Lots of foreigners visiting our dear
place. On my walk along the prom last night I hardly heard an English
speaker. Lots of Swiss, Germans and Dutch judging by the accents and
the cars and buses we are carrying on board.

Previous & present

Walking along the Oban prom last night gave me a photo opportunity to include Waverley & Isle of Mull. I leave it to me readers to decide which is the more attractive.

Musical Arrival

Yesterday we berthed in Oban to a musical accompaniment from the local
High School pipe band. And very good they were too, those girls know
how to twirl their drumsticks. The opportunity to pass round a bucket
for donations wasn't lost on them either as the passengers walked
past, which reminds me of the young piper that used to meet the
Waverley at the Science Centre most days. I noticed one day as the
first past him there was a pound coin already lying in his box as a
kind of suggestion. Anyway it is all voluntary and they gave a fine
splash of colour to the quay side.

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.