Touch of the Groundhog Days

Today was an excellent example of a normal day, 5 runs across to Mull
from Oban starting at 08:00 and finishing at 18:00 here back in Oban
and tied up for the night. I'm starting to get my head around the day
to day stuff, the navigation part is pretty straightforward two
courses from clearing the berth at either end, if it wasn't for
Lismore it would be the one but the lighthouse gives a wee 5 degree
dogleg on the way.
Traditionally Cal Mac has been manned by locals and folk from the
islands. Suffice to say the folks on board are Duncan's, Murdo's
Euan's and the talk is of farming and tractors a lot of the time. One
of the mates has a photo of a prize ram posted on his cabin
bulkhead,beside the photo of the wife and kids. As well as learning
about RoRo's I'll have a fair knowledge on the price of hay and sheep
blight.

By bus and boat

I don't think that I have ever joined a ship by bus, so today was a
first. Down to Great Western Road and the 8:40 Citylink direct to
Oban. Pretty trip up the road with quite a lot of snow still around,
particularly at the top of the Rest and be Thankful.
The vessel Isle of Mull duly arrived at 11:45 and sailed 14 minutes
later for Colonsay, pretty familiar territory to me from last year's
sailing down Sound of Kerrera and then an hour and a half trip with
our 10 vehicles and 22 passengers. So much warmer today with the wind
round to the SW at last, a little bit of a swell coming in but that's
not a problem on here, just stick out the stabilisers and all is well.
We were back in Oban for 17:30 after a very early dinner, they eat
dinner at 4 on board here. All tied up for the night and the evening
free to do as we wish. Which is reading the safety management manuals
in my case.

To the Isle of Mull and then back again

My first appointment with David MacBrayne is the Isle of Mull sailing from Oban on Wednesday.  Familiar territory from last year's sailing on the boat, so quite pleased about that to ease me into the way of things.  Only going for a week on this first trip and then two on two off.

Travelling to join is easy too, a bus from Great Western Road to the terminal at Oban.  Only £5 with an advance ticket, mind you if my experience from last year is anything to go by I'll be one of the few actually paying.

New Year, New Job?

With the arrival of the New Year I have news of the next step in my career.  On Christmas Eve I received a phone call from Clyde Marine advising me of an interview with Caledonian MacBrayne, the ferry operators.  I duly attended last Thursday and met one of their Superintendents who after a chat, it couldn't really be considered an interview more of a convivial discussion, offered me a position with the company as a deck officer.

Subject to my references being acceptable, the cheques are in the post guys, I should be offered the job shortly with a view to taking up a position sometime this month.

Really looking forward to hearing about where I'm going to be sailing from, indeed quite excited about the whole thing.  A good start to the New Year.

I do have a part time job for the next few days, not that it pays much.  This morning on her way to the bus stop Julie came a cropper on the pavement and has broken her wrist. As anyone who lives locally will know there is lots of ice around and when we turned up at the local A and E we were one, among many others, holding onto painful wrists, arms and ankles.
Home now and herself has a plastered arm in a sling and feeling pretty sorry for herself as it is quite painful.
So the new part time job is as a nurse/taxi driver looking after herself indoors.  With her right hand out of action she won't be able to drive or write for a while, so I'm going to be that new right hand till after Christmas at least.

Despite trying hard I have not been to sea since my last post in October on the Waverley.  Master Mariner available for hire should anyone be reading this.
Along with the rest of Scotland we have just been through our first real taste of winter for this season, not for this year though as it was pretty damn cold in March and April as I recall.
I took some photos around our part of town http://goo.gl/xHZt5

The Aft end disco in the saloon

Queen Elizabeth sailing from Southampton

Heading North

We on our way back to Glasgow having completed all the River Thames'
sailings and a one day sail around the Solent. That is almost all of
the cruises finished for this year, apart from two this weekend, so we
need to get back home to the North and the ship's winter lay-up berth.
One of the evening trips in London was for 688 passengers, all about
20'ish in age and quite affluent, they danced the evening away as we
chugged down to the Thames tidal barrier, turned and crept back up
again at dead slow most of the way. The dining saloon and forward bar
were converted into "discos" and there were speakers out on deck to
convey the beat to those out there, taking the night air. A lovely
bunch of people, really pleasant and when they left at 11:00 they were
all off to a night club to continue to 5 in the morning. What
surprised me was how much they had drunk yet appeared to be relatively
sober, in 3 hours the two bars on board took nearly £11,000. The
discarded bottles of beer, wine and champagne that were left
everywhere showed that. The young man who organises this has found
sponsors in Rizla cigarette papers, who hand out free product as the
passengers boarded. Not sure that we should be advocating smoking, in
particular the extra-long ones that they make, for rolling elongated
cigarettes?
For the last day on the river we finished off at Tower Pier, right
beside the Tower of London and a film crew boarded to set up their
cameras for filming the next morning. We set off and at 7:00am we
were in place bouncing around off the white chalk cliffs of Dover.
Unfortunately despite the weather being lovely and clear for the
sunrise there was a strong Force 7 wind blowing about 25 to 30 knots
which kicked up quite a swell with waves so we were rocking and
rolling about. A helicopter had been organised to take pictures of us
with the rising sun and the cliffs in the background and while this
was going on the crew on board were taking pictures of the cliffs
using 7 cameras strapped onto the back of the ship, on the poop deck.
The film crew were scheduled to join us by boat in two lots, but after
the first three guys just managed to get on board the next lot didn't
manage it, as the seas were high and it had become too dangerous to
come alongside to allow them to climb on board. The helicopter pilot
has nerves of steel with the low swooping shots that he did along the
deck of the ship which had us all ducking down as he screamed across.
While that was going on the guys on the back end of the ship were
having terrible problems with the spray getting onto their lenses,
they had to be kept covered in plastic bags right up to the last
minute before shooting. This all went on for about three hours until
they were happy with the results. You will have to look out for the
next Sherlock Holmes film to see the outcome, I gather we will be
right at the end of the film and it all involves a handkerchief, which
was filmed 6 times being thrown to the wind. No actors were on board,
they will be included at a later date after having been filmed in a
studio and overlaid onto the scenes by magic! Or computer really, but
magic is better.
The next day we were in Southampton to do a cruise following the
maiden voyage of the latest Cunard cruise liner Queen Elizabeth. We
were fully booked and nature played its part by giving us a lovely
warm sunny day. The ship sailed and we along with a multitude of
small craft and various ferries followed on behind. This time we were
blessed by a setting sun with the ship in the foreground, I say ship
they all tend to look like blocks of flats because of the desire to
have as many ship side cabins as possible, but still I would swap
places with the Mate on there.
Our passage North has been very peaceful and Cape Horn Lands End was
no problem at all. Youtube link As I write this we are passing the South end of
Arran and the lights of Glasgow are being reflected off the clouds.
Home tomorrow and back to normal.

Southward bound

After yesterday's fairly dire day when we departed Southend with just
20 passengers which gave us a grand total on board of 49, we headed up
the coast to Southwold and anchored off the river and pier. It is
notoriously exposed to the North Sea swell and more trips from this
pier have been called off than actually made. The ship was rolling
around all night, fortunately not so much that it affected me in my
cabin by the water line, but others in the penthouse seemed to have
suffered.

We upped anchor and made a pass at the pier to check out conditions
then a turn around and in again unfortunately without success, the
offshore wind caught us and we were away. On our third attempt we made
it and despite the rolling and bashing around we managed to take on
261.

Lovely trip south down the East coast past Sizewell Nuclear Power
Station to see the three eyed fish, past Harwich and into the Thames
for the run up to Tower Pier. Lovely clear night and the tide in so
the city was looking fantastic, St. Pauls, the London Eye all showing
up really well as we approached the Tower Bridge.

Not long to get everyone off and we turned and headed back downriver
to Tilbury. All tied up by 22:20 and then we have to take on fuel,
bunkers, so the barge is alongside now and should be finished by half
eleven. Long day, with a 09:00 departure tomorrow light ship to
Southend and then back up to the city. Rotten weather forecast, let's
hope that they have it wrong.

Up and down the Thames
Yesterday was spent alongside at Tilbury Landing Stage, or rather the more grandly named London International Cruise Terminal.  Which it was at one time but now the ravages of time are beginning to show on its old face.  It is actually a floating barge built in 1930 and some 1,130 feet long so quite a structure.  As it floats and is connected to the shore by 5 ramps it moves up and down about 21 feet every tide and so we do not need to adjust our mooring ropes as the tide comes in and out. 
The day was spent catching up with the jobs that can't be done when we have passengers on board, such as touching up the over side paintwork.  We also held our weekly emergency and abandon ship drill, a regulatory requirement on a merchant ship.
It would not be an understatement to say that Tilbury town is not the most glamorous of spots to be tied up, pity as we do spend quite a lot of our time here.  There is the one pub a short walk away the World's End, so called because it was usually the last building that convicts being transported to Australia would see before they set off for the other side of the world.  There is a regular ferry to take passengers over to the South side of the river at Gravesend, site of the once naval training school for merchant seamen that was established on a floating tall ship.
Today was a trip down river to Southend on Sea, which it is when the tide is in, and then onto Margate to drop off and then pick up passengers for a trip round the coast to look at North Foreland light then back here to Tilbury.  We have glamorous company as the tall ship Stavros Niachros is berthed just downriver from us.
A good day with pleasant weather, lets hope that this keeps up for the next few weeks, it does make life and profits so much easier.

London and the Thames

It seems that we have been here for weeks, though in reality it was only two days ago when we first arrived at Tower Pier here in the centre of London.  We didn't manage to do our full schedule yesterday, the call to Clacton on Sea was called off due to the forecast high winds, our passengers were all dropped off at Southend and had the prospect of 6 hours to visit the town.

We went out to anchor and came back in to pick them up.  Southend has the longest pier in the world at slightly over one and a half miles, so long it has a little train that runs the length of it.  Our passengers being a punctual lot were all standing by, a good 45 minutes early and freezing in the cold northerly winds.  The Lifeboat shop at the pier end would have been doing good business anyway.

Today sees us back to Southend and then onto Whitstable on the Kent coast with time ashore for all.  We already have 600 passengers booked from here, so it's going to be a busy day.

Hello Waverley & Goodbye Capt. Andy

I'm back on board the Paddle Steamer Waverley sailing as Chief Officer. Before joining today I have been enjoying the hospitality of Captain Ian Clark and his wife for the last couple of days at his home in Kent.  As well soaking in the glorious summer weather down here we visited Canterbury Cathedral, had a hot tub soak and a ride through the Kent countryside as passenger on the back of Ian's Harley Davidson.

At 5:30 this morning we set off for Portsmouth to join Waverley at the Wightlink ferry terminal in Portsmouth.  Unfortunately the glorious summer weather had become steady rain with a stiff SW breeze behind it.  Once underway and clear of the harbour Captain Andy had somehow managed to wangle a free lift from the coastguard to take him ashore.  Here's the photo as proof of him being hoisted on board.

We then set off for Worthing Pier and despite the choppy seas and moderate swell picked up 200+ passengers for the run down to Dover where we arrived about 20:30.  It took a tad longer to get alongside because of "Yokahama" fenders in the way at the berth and then getting everyone ashore up the one gangway but we were safely tied up and clear by 21:00 about and hour and half late. 

Tomorrow it is round the corner and up to the centre of London, forecast isn't great but we hope that we'll be in the sheltered waters in time before it starts to blow. Goodnight from Dover.

Haul Out Day

After a bumpy night in the Marina due to the strong NW wind, the day
opened with lots of sunshine. Off to the sailmakers to drop off all
the sails and covers to be checked over and washed ready for next year
and then I moved the boat up to the haul out berth.

As I don't have a cradle, and use props to keep the boat upright on
the hard standing, I have to have the mast removed in case it causes
the boat to move about in a high wind. I also think that it is a
sensible maintenance item as it gives me an opportunity to check all
of the rigging and other more inaccessible parts of the mast.

Once the mast is off the boat is moved into the dock to allow the
hoist to drive over the top and place the slings under the hull. The
positions for the slings are marked on the boat so there is no doubt
as to the best place to fit them. Once out the water the hull is
given a pressure wash down to get rid of the inevitable slime that
builds up on the hull. It looks very clean, more so than usual, maybe
all the sailing has polished it up along the way.

When that's done the whole lift with boat moves over to the hard
standing area and the boat is adjusted so that it is upright with a
little stern trim to make the rain water run away. The chocks are
placed all round and wedged off to keep them tight. Once everyone is
happy then weight is taken off the slings and the boat is resting on
the keel and kept upright with the props.

And that's it for another season. Lots of stuff to take off and
wash/dry, including the never once used Cruising Chute. Next year,
eh, less wind next year and more downhill sailing, always next year.

No langoustines or scallops for us

Julie & Lynne for crew. We intended berthing at Tarbert to sample Prentice Seafood's finest so set off down the Largs Channel in a stiff West to North West, with one reef in the main and a handkerchief of the genoa rolled out. Once clear of Little Cumbrae it was clear that the seas and wind direction were against us, making for a long haul up Loch Fyne.  A few minutes of banging into the seas and general agreement that we are not for this so we bore off to starboard and headed up towards Rothesay and the East Kyle.  A great sail up to the Burnt Isles and off west to Black Foreland Bay, opposite Tighnabruaich, for a peaceful night at anchor.

 

Sunday opens with lots of sunshine and a beautiful view towards Loch Riddon, the mountains are turning brown from the hill tops down the slopes; autumn is closing in. A little breeze from the North West and we sailed all the way back to Largs in the freshening wind pushing us along at up to 8 knots.  Past 50 odd Clyde Cruising Club yachts, motoring the other way to meet up at Wreck Bay for their Sail Past muster.  Our other sight was a large pale grey dolphin that came speeding past a couple of times leaving us standing.

 

Arriving at the Largs Channel we're met by 150 Topper dinghies sailing up channel at the start of their race to windward.  Tied up in the marina, we took the opportunity to remove the sails and boom, yes that is the end of our season for 2010.  Earlier than usual but I'm off to the other vessel in my life, dear old Waverley up and down the Thames for three weeks.  I'll keep on blogging though, still out on the water. A fantastic weekend sailing and a great end to the year, distances for the two days was 47' and for this season a total of 950'.

Rounding the first mark

Underway

Colintraive reception

This was the weekend of the Euroyacht Fun Race from Largs to Colintraive.  It was organised as a pursuit race with a staggered start so the slowest boats start first and the fastest last, based on their handicap.  As to the result, well in horse racing terminology Tarawa "also ran".  Saying that we were 7th out of 10 mainly because I mucked up the start and was about 3 minutes late getting across the line. It was a gusty old wind at the start so I had put a reef into the main, which was needed when we were in the Largs Channel, but then once out into the Firth the wind dropped so we lost a bit of time with it in and then shaking it out.  It was a run all the way to Colintraive in the SE'ly and we managed to overtake three other boats on the way, then the whole fleet was overtaken by the last boat to start, a Sun Fast 40 which just left everyone standing and was first over the line and hence won. 

Great reception ashore at the Colintraive Hotel with a buffet and lots of Loch Fyne beer before the prize-giving, for the night we moved round to Wreck Bay and had a quiet night there at anchor in the shelter of Bute.  This morning the 06:00 forecast was SE'ly 5 or 6 increasing 8 so we upped anchor and bashed into it via the Tang Channel at Millport.  The wind was getting up all the way so it justified the early start, we were back alongside at Largs by 11:00.

Thanks to Angus and David from Euroyachts for organising everything and for the great reception, and also to Julie and Lynne for crewing and putting up with me.

Circular Tour

Two friends for a long time, Roy and John joined on Thursday afternoon.  For the start of our cruise was a peaceful sail up the East Kyle to the Kames Hotel with a good dinner ashore, the moon rising over Bute with the sun setting over the mainland was a memorable sight that evening.
Friday opened with wall to wall sunshine and the sea like a mirror.  We motored down the Kyle towards Ardlamont Point and then picked up the forecast NW breeze for a brisk sail over to Lochranza on Arran, where, with some difficulty, we managed to pick up a buoy.  Bouncing around in the ever freshening wind I stayed on board to keep an eye on things while the lads went ashore to visit the local distillery.
Onwards, still in sunshine and now with a wind gusting up to 27 knots we set off up Loch Fyne for Tarbert.  Good experience for Roy who is new to sailing to find out why the wind direction has a lot of bearing on the progress.  We were in time to visit Mr. Prentice and his seafood emporium out at the ferry terminal and dinner was in the cockpit, langoustines and scallops accompanied by a fine bottle of Moet, we weren’t scrimping.
Overnight there was tremendous showers of rain, which continued for the day.  The wind was still breezy from the NW but now behind us, all the way to Kempock Point with just the genoa giving us a respectable 6 to 8 knots right up to the marina.  Largs Regatta is on this weekend with some damage apparent on poor soul sailing up Loch Fyne with a ripped head sail.

A great three days, thanks to John & Roy for their company, and the bottles of Rhum and Whisky.  Lochranaza whisky is excellent and I recommend it to those of you who like a tipple.

Home
Our final sail to Largs was all on starboard tack, down the East Kyle making a good 7 to 8 knots all the way overtaking the odd motoring yacht, blue ensign resplendent at their stern.  Once clear of Rothesay the wind stayed at a steady F5 rather than the gusty breeze in the Kyle and before we knew it we were tied up in the marina, back in the familiar berth.  Since David joined last Sunday we have clocked up 140', 120' or so under sail.  It has been a gourmet cruise, oysters, fresh mackerel and langoustines.  Thanks to David for his culinary skills and for his companionship.

Homeward bound

We departed Tarbert after lunch and had a great sail down Loch Fyne
and round Ardlamont Point to the Kames Hotel. The weather was fine and
I think that in some respects the wind force was greater in Tarbert
than out in the loch. We nipped ashore and walked round to the
Tighnabruaich boat yard to view David's previous boat now resplendent
in its new green and white colour scheme. Had fish and chips in the
hotel, then found ourselves sheltering under the dinghy on the beach
as the rain came down.
Just the return trip to Largs today and that will be the end of this
particular voyage, the good news is that I'm back here on Thursday
with a bunch of guys for two nights, maybe back in Tarbert again soon.

Of prawns and gales

Day opens with torrential rain, not feeling 100% probably due to a bad
packet of crisps that I had in the Cairnbaan Hotel last night. We set
off droochit and tie up in Ardrishaig harbour working out what to do
next. The forecast says F5 to 7 South Westerly but here in the pool
it is 0 gusting 1, admittedly there is more wind out in Loch Fyne but
it doesn't seem to be that much. No boats coming in though.
We do some shopping in the local hypermarket and then the sun breaks
through so the skipper decides that we can sail at 2 for Kames, with a
view of having chips for tea in the Kames Hotel. A mile or so down
the loch and one gust registers 38 knots, no more sail and motor on
for Tarbert.
Safely alongside a pontoon listening to the wind whistling and moaning
in the rigging. David introduces me to the fish producer at the
harbour entrance, the results are as in the photo. Lovely, washed
down with a fine bottle of Tempranillo rose and some crusty bread.
First visit here for this year and there has been some changes around
about the place. The big old boat shed has gone and a walkway has
been built all around the harbour, lots of new shops with art
galleries and coffee shops. Things are looking prosperous here.

Canals and fair winds.

The inshore forecast was now predicting up to a gale force 8 on Friday
from the SE going round to the SW on Saturday so I felt that going
South was no longer an option, our second attempt to get to Port Ellen
has been thwarted by the old enemy the weather.
We motored back down Loch Sween, in comparison to yesterday it seemed
a much more unfriendly place with the low cloud and the head wind. As
we approached the corner and turned to starboard towards Crinan the
sun broke through, we let out the genoa and raced North with the sun,
wind and tide all in our favour.
Straight into the canal and straight through to the first set of locks
where we met Brian our pilot for the transit. It may cost a few
pounds but the ease of going through with lines tended and locks
opened and closed as you berth is well worth it. We were in company
with another yacht so it was all the much easier for their help as
well. By 5 were berthed on the downside of the bridge at Cairnbaan.

Incidents and mysteries

While at anchor there was a need to transport between ship and shore,
to get provisions, ballast for the creel, visit the pub etc. To save
embarrassment the names have been removed from the narrative but a
crew member while attempting to board the tender managed to end up
going for a swim in Puilladobhrain anchorage. All very unfortunate
but the main loss was of the dignity of the crew member, as one other
yachtie commented it can happen to the best of us.
We walked over the hill and had a couple of pints at the Tigh na
Truish and then mackerel for tea done in the oven to avoid the boat
smelling like a chippy. The heads guts etc. were all placed in the
creel, see photo, and placed in a rocky spot to tempt the local
lobster overnight.
The haul in the morning revealed half a dozen crabs, wee tiddlers and
a mysteriously empty bait pouch. Overnight something had managed to
unzip the pouch at the top of the creel and empty the contents,
possibly an octopus? Any suggestions? The dinghy in the photo left
just shortly before us, interesting rig does anyone recognise it?
We set off under motor and once clear of Easdale at the South end of
Seil sailed all the way down the Sound of Luing past Corryvreckhan and
Crinan to Loch Sween, the wind was SW so once in the loch which runs
SE to NW we had a gentle run all the way up past the Castle and
anchored in the Fairy Isles at 19:00, with only the sound of the wind
and the odd owl to break the peace. The landscape reminds David of BC
in Canada, many little islands with fir trees and a backdrop of
mountains.
Thursday morning now and the forecast is going downhill fast, gales
forecast for tomorrow and not much better on Saturday. It was our
intention to go on to Port Ellen on Islay before going round the Mull
but time and weather may defeat us as David needs to be home for
Sunday night. Crew meeting over breakfast to look at the options.