David goes over the top!

Homeward Bound!

2011-10-05T00:43:00.000+01:00

I deduce you will have guessed by now that I'm dragging my feet writing these final words. I'm trying to make the experience last for as long as I can. However all good things come to an end so they say. Apart from that I am being pressured by some loyal fans to 'get on with it'.

I spent a day in Rothesay tidying Ruach up. It is surprising what you gather on a boat during a three month cruise. But as this voyage draws to an end it's time to clear out. Harbour guides from here and there, tourist maps, the odd magazine with that 'must read' article I saved for later. You know the type of stuff. I also put another coat of varnish on the for'ard half of the starboard gunwale. The finish looked really nice....
.....well it did until the heavy short sharp shower pitted it's surface and gave it an unsightly bloom. Ho hum! More work to do.

While on Bute I showered in the splendidly restored Victorian toilets (well, not actually showered in the toilets of course!). This is a bizarre tourist attraction, can you imagine 'Roll up roll up', 'Come see our toilets now!', 'only 20p admission', 'All the fun of the fair'. Both gents and ladies are welcomed on the tour!
While I was showering the attendant came and locked the door to the showers for me to maintain my modesty as there a were bunch of people taking the tour while I showered. Take a look here to see some more views

The paddle steamer Waverley came into Rothesay on it's way through the Kyles to Kames before returning back to the Clyde via Rothesay again.
Well, you know what I've been like for getting aboard other boats during this trip, today was no different. I was given a tour of the engine room of the Waverley and spent a little time at the helm. This boat is such a graceful old lady. What a fantastic opportunity.

Waverley's Engine Room

Steady as she goes!

At this point I'd like to mention the fantastic result we have with the charity giving. To date, including donations, gift aid and matched giving we have raised over £3000 for the Alzheimer's charities.

Following discussion with Alan Midwinter of Alzheimer Scotland it has been decided to channel the Scottish portion of the funds to a project in West Lothian that helps a group of people with 'Early Onset Alzheimers'. This does not necessarily mean people who have been recently diagnosed with dementia, but is a group who have been diagnosed with dementia at an early age. It is very moving to hear of the vibrant people whose lives had been so badly affected by this disease; it is also a surprise to hear that there is no funding for such groups other than charitable donations. Your donations really are making a difference.

Hopefully you will not think I've nagged you too much over these months for a donation. But if you are considering making a donation, stop considering! Click one of the links right now.

www.justgiving.com/David-Hippey-Scotland for Alzheimer Scotland

www.justgiving.com/David-Hippey for the Alzheimer's Society

In addition you can now give direct from your mobile: just txt to 70070, SAIL51 20 to donate £20 to Alzheimer Scotland. Insert the amount you want to donate in place of the 20. These txts are FREE and all of your donation goes to the charity.

The following day, Saturday 27th August, was the day I had announced to the world that I would be returning to my berth in Largs marina. So at 10.30am I raised sail on Ruach for the last time on this voyage.

The winds were very light and there was rain in the air. I ghosted across the relatively short distance between Rothesay and Largs to arrive bang on time at 13:00.

Homeward bound - The final trip

The wanderer returns. Ruach arrives back at Largs marina

A great 'Welcome home!' From Penny

Some more of the reception party.

This video of my return was posted on YouTube by my friend Pat.

Well, that's about the end of my little journey. I hope you have enjoyed following the progress of Ruach around the coast of Scotland.

There may well yet be another couple of posts to this blog, as people have asked about the technology used to put this all together, plus I may have some confessions or 'out-takes' to post; then finally as I'm currently anchored to my desk back in my day job there is the 'what next' to contemplate. All I can say is 'Watch this space'

If you are having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details. Alternatively you can donate by txt'ing SAIL51 £20 to 70070 (replace the £20 with the amount you want to donate). TXTs are free and all your donation goes to the charity.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

"Pieces of eight!"

2011-09-19T21:53:00.001+01:00

Avast behind! This update is being posted on September 19th, which is of course 'international talk like a pirate day' mi'hearties. It also happens to be the day of my birth some 50'odd years ago. So grab yoursel' a tot of rum and raise a toast to seafarers the world over. Arrrrrh!

I mentioned last post that I had anchored in Asgog bay, this is located at the Southern end of Loch Fyne. The bay faces South'ish looking towards the Northern tip of Arran. It is a gorgeous anchorage, but only suitable for use in settled weather as the holding here is not the best.
On this occasion the weather was kind to me allowing me to stay here for the night. The ships batteries were running a little low just now as 'Otto' had been steering for most of the day and because I have had no access to shore power to keep them topped for a couple of days. The laptop used for blogging and video creation is pretty hungry for power and drains the ships batteries quite quickly, so with no chance of blogging the night away I decided to turn in for an early night. This was about 22.30, (as anyone who knows me will testify this is early for me as I tend to bit of a night owl).
At this point I must tell you that during the whole of my trip I have been a little disappointed with the views of the night sky. I was quite prepared for a lack of stars during the early part of the trip because it was just too light for most of the time. The sun only dropped to a twilight glow rather than the full inky blackness of night this far North. But I did expect to see some spectacular night skies as I progressed down the Western shores. Unfortunately I had not had the opportunity to see one single spectacularly clear night the whole trip, the best I had seen was a few stars peeping out from behind broken cloud.
Around 00.45 I was awoken by the boat having a very agitated motion. I guessed something big was making its way up or down Loch Fyne kicking up a sizable wake in it's track. It was not only the motion that had robbed me of my slumber but it was also accompanied by the sound of the leathered gaff jaws creaking and squeaking against the mast as it swung to and fro. There was no way I was going to get back to sleep until I'd re-tied the boom off to silenced it, so reluctantly I threw off the duvet and slid back the hatch to be greeted by a most fantastic sight. The sky was like a diamond studded velvet cloak with the clear swath of the milky way down the center reaching from horizon to horizon. As my eyes became accustomed to the light I thought I saw stars reflected in the water. I then realised that this was not a reflection, these specks of light had the peculiar green tinge of phosphorescence and actually emanated from the water. I dropped a weighted line over the side of the boat and swished it around to display an explosion of bio-luminescence. It's a shame that my camera is not sensitive enough to capture a record of these sights.
It was almost as if Ruach had woken me up on purpose to see this sight. "Come on David, get up, now, get up, you just gotta get up and see this!"..... and I'm so glad I did.

If you click this chart to zoom in at the white arrows you will see there are two Rubha Dubh's.......

.......but try as I may I couldn't find three men in a tub!

The next morning I made my way the short distance from Asgog to Kames in the West Kyle of Bute, but to extend my sail I went almost all the way across to the Kintyre shore before heading back across and up the Kyle. I spent a night here on one of the moorings provided for patrons of the Kames Hotel before heading just a few more miles further along the West Kyle to Caladh harbour; located where the West and East Kyles meet.

A windless view from Kames looking East along the West Kyle

The Northern entrance to the tiny Caladh harbour

While I was preparing my evening meal I heard the unique slap slap slap sound that emanates from the Paddle Steamer Waverley - The last of a long line of sea-going paddle steamers. I stopped my preparations while I watched her glide majestically past my anchorage as she made her way through the Kyles. (See the video).

Next day I was off down the East Kyle to Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. Again, not very far and the little wind there was was on the nose, but as time was my own I tacked my way down the Kyle passed Port Bannatyne and on into the inner harbour at Rothesay.

Rothesay - Looking more Torquay than a Scottish island

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

....but it's not yet over

2011-09-03T01:46:00.000+01:00

If you have ever seen the Where's Wally books and pictures (or Where's Waldo if you are in the States) you may appreciate this photo. Take a look carefully; can you see both Ruach and me hidden in this photo? It is a shot of the pontoon at Campbeltown taken from a webcam, For a clue - I'm waving at the cam.

While I was on the pontoon at Campbeltown I met two brothers, both in their late 70's who were sailing their Folkboat from Ardrishaig, Loch Fyne to Ireland for a holiday. I hope when I'm in my 70's I'll still have the dream, desire and vitality to carry out such trips. I shared a brew and a 'blether' aboard their boat before they set off for the South. Does this count as another boat visited on this trip?
I also met a nice couple and their three lively boys who had sailed up from the Isle of Man in their Westerly Centaur.
These 'exotic' places now seem all the nearer since I have begun this journey.

Although I'm now back in the Clyde the trip isn't quite over. I'm about 40 miles South of the line level with where where I started this trip from and I'm dragging these last few miles out as long as I can :-)

A good while ago I'd promised one of my friends at Otter Ferry in Loch Fyne that some day I would pay him an aquatic visit. It's just over a year since we based Ruach in the marina at Largs and in this time I have not managed to fulfil this promise so, as I had a few days to spare before needed to get back to my employment, I thought I would take the opportunity. I had a further reason for heading up Loch Fyne, this was an invite from the owners of a Cornish Shrimper to come and have sail in company. So it was settled, I would head North.

Campbeltown to Tarbert with views of the Isle of Arran

I left it to the weather to decide which route I would take to get there. If the wind outside Campbeltown Loch was direct from the North I would head East round the bottom of Arran and up the Clyde, or if the wind was from any other direction I'd head North up the Kilbrannan Sound. As it turns out the wind was almost non-existent so I headed North towards Loch Ranza. During the early part of this passage the winds came from just about any direction they could think of, but finally decided to settle on being mainly from the North West. So after a faltering start I made good progress up the Sound, so much so that I decided to extend my passage beyond Loch Ranza and instead headed for Tarbert.

Tarbert Marina

Tarbert North Shore

Tarbert South Shore

Restored, rebuild traditional boats at Tarbert

When I left Tarbert I had to manoeuvre around an in-bound inflatable boat. When I looked back I saw I was being chased by the same boat. Oops, what had I done now?
It turns out nothing! The occupants of the boat had seen the graphics emblazoned on Ruach's hull and one of the occupants of the inflatable turned out to be one of the regional managers of Alzscot, one of the two charities I'm raising funds for on this trip.

The wind was quite strong, gusting force five, but coming directly from the stern again, so I was able to carry full mainsail and jib for this down hill thrash towards Otter Ferry. The wind being so strong I decided it was safer to tack through around 340 degrees rather than gybe the mainsail.

As I approached Otter Ferry I was careful to keep to the buoyed channel rather than taking the risky short-cut across the tip of Otter spit.

Cornish Shrimper ELSKA

As I turned towards the moorings I spied Cornish Shrimper 377 ELSKA heading my way. After pirouetting around each other for a short while I was invited by Jim & Ann to share a meal later that evening at the Oystercatcher.....

....and very nice it was too.

The Oystercatcher at Otter Ferry

The following morning I sauntered up the hill to meet my mate & fellow engineer Bob in the old School house before setting off back down Loch Fyne to another of my favorite anchorages in Asgog Bay. But more of that next time.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea.....

2011-08-27T01:51:00.000+01:00

I had a troubled sleep last night, the boat was tossing and turning as the wind fought the tide and Ruach did a merry dance round the mooring buoy. I’d arrived last evening at around 23:00 and needed to be up at 06:00 to catch the tide for rounding the Mull of Kintyre, not much time to eat, sleep and be fresh for the long journey today. I really could have done with some decent sleep. Oh well.

The wind was again fine on the bow which meant again a day spent looking over my right shoulder as I kept a good forward lookout, but today I'd spent more time looking around and stretching my neck the other way to avoid a permanant kink in my neck.

At first I could make a course direct to Erradale Point, just beyond Machrinanish, but as the day progressed the wind wandered more and more from the South pointing me more and more North of my goal. Progress was also painfully slow because the sizable waves were slapping into Ruach’s bow each one sapping momentum. I had to give up pure sailing and again turn to my little iron topsail. I could see at my rate of progress the possibility that the tidal gate that is the Mull of Kintyre could close in my face and there are few alternative options once committed. However as always I did had a plan ‘B’ just in case, but didn’t relish the thought of the extra miles this would entail as the plan ‘B’ had ‘Ireland’ stamped right across it.

The conditions once I passed Erradale Point were rough to say the least. My chart didn’t indicate any warning of this here, but I suppose it was wind against tide. What was the Mull itself going to be like I thought? I was already running late for a West to East passage, but as soon as I got to the lighthouse the seas went completely flat as if oil had been spread on the surface to calm the troubled seas. I saw seals playing around me, their inquisitive faces and big brown eyes looking at me look at them. I had done it, I had rounded the last great headland of my journey. I headed on in these flat calm seas towards Sanda Island. As I did the wind that I had been fighting all morning evaporated to nothing.

Just rounded the Mull of Kintyre

On passing Sanda Isle and heading into the Clyde (Even though technically I was in Kilbrannan Sound) it dawned on me that I had done it! I had done what I set out to do. I had taken my little vessel ‘Over The Top’ from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde! I laughed out loud and at the same time a tear welled up inside. Mixed emotions grabbed me from nowhere. I felt very elated. I called my Dad to give him the news. He has been following my exploits from his chair using just a road atlas. My brother has been keeping him updated with my whereabouts and letting him read the updates on the internet. (Thanks Geoff).

During the last two days I had used my engine a fair amount and there are no motorway service stations in the sea-lanes. As I puttered up the sound the last of my fuel coughed through the carburettor, what to do now? Well the tide seemed to be pushing at a near 1 knot in my favour, but still no wind. I did had a little petrol left in the container I use for the outboard motor that powers my inflatable dinghy. This was my reserve reserve! Only about a litre and a half. So I ghosted along until I reached Island Davaar (Yes that is written the right way round) at the head of Campbeltown Loch. I was about to start the motor when a cats paw of wind rippled the surface of the water. The sails filled and I glided into the loch on a gentle broad reach.

Island Davaar Light stands at the entrance to Campbeltown Loch

When I arrived at the pontoon in Campbeltown it was already fairly full, with some boats moored two abreast, but I motored in to take a look to see if there was any space for me, I spied a gap just under 1.5 times the length of Ruach, which I passed, turned around 180 degrees next to the lifeboat and glided in. Still having only ahead on the engine you may recall. I stepped ashore and made the boat fast. A local boater and an Scandinavian who were standing chatting opposite commented on a job well done, an excellent manoeuvre. (Little did they know of my swan like manor again).

My first task was to take a stroll into Campbeltown to find the one and only petrol station to fill my two ten litre containers. I noted there was a supermarket across the street for me to stock up on supplies, but not on this journey, my arms were going to be long enough by the time I returned to the boat after this trip and I had the prospect of doing it all again tomorrow to ensure I had a full tank and full reserves for my departure.

While in Campbeltown I visited the Aqualibrium. Strange name, it sounds like the Romans got here first and built this place to sit and read in a communal bathhouse. In actual fact it is a recently built public library and has a 25 metre swimming pool. But I don't think they would take too kind to you taking your library books in for a swim with you. It also has fitness facilities, a crèche and the 'Mussel Ebb' bistro.

But in a way the Romans were here earlier. I read in the library that the Italians 'Invaded' Campbeltown one hundred years ago. In true Python style I hear you ask 'and what did the ~~Romans~~ Italians do for us' Well, they brought us the cafe culture.

The pontoon at Campbeltown is quite a cosmopolitan hub. It has boats coming and going from all parts. Placed where it is it is a convenient place to rest and replenish. Located at the Southern end of the Clyde cruising ground, it is close to Ireland, one hop away from the Isle of Man and near enough the Mull for boats coming to or from the Hebrides to call into if passing. On its own it doesn't have a lot to captivate you with, but as the property people will tell you it is all about location, location, location.

I'm grateful to Kevin McCann for sending me a few shots of Ruach from earlier in the trip, so I thought I'd share this one with you here.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family

( Especially the rich ones :-) )

I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Crowhurst or Knox-Johnston?

2011-08-26T01:43:00.000+01:00

Farewell to Oban. It's time for me to head further South. I departed via Kerrera Sound and skirted across the end of the Firth of Lorn towards the Sound of Luing.

Farewell Oban

Kerrera Sound

I was heading for Croabh Haven and had to decide whether to go via for the Sound of Luing or through Cuan Sound. Both these routes are tidal 'gates' that would either enhance my progress or firmly shut the door. I had a favourable tide for either of these passages so decided on the former as this would give me a broad reach between Luing and Lunga/Scarba rather than a run through Cuan Sound. Besides I had not been through the Sound of Luing for a while.

Fladda Light at the top of the Sound of Luing

As it happens the boat in front of me took Cuan Sound and I again saw them again half way down Shuna Sound as I passed the end of Shuna Island. So it looks like I had travelled further, but at a faster pace. Again Ruach had achieved a far greater speed going through the Sound of Luing than her hull alone would allow.
I spent the next few days holed up in Croabh Haven while waiting for the weather to improve.

Ruach in Craobh Haven

On my departure from Craobh I was met by the crew of Iolair who I last saw in Kinlochbervie. Because according to my blog I was still somewhere North of Ardnamurchan and here I was sailing past them in Craobh they questioned whether I was actually completing the trip or if I was being a Donald Crowhurst and reporting my position elsewhere to my factual location. Well I can see their point as at any one time there are three indicators to where I am. The first being what you read here, this is the most out-of-date information as I post to this blog 'as and when', the second is the red line on the map posted on the home page of www.eventoftheyear.co.uk again this is only updated on an infrequent basis. To know where I really am at any one time the factual trace is provided on the 'Where am I' page within the main www.eventoftheyear.co.uk website.
This question did remind me of my own thoughts when I set off on this journey. Was I a Donald Crowhurst or a winner like Robin Knox-Johnston? Donald, I'm sure, set out with every intention of completing the course, but circumstance and consequence of failure probably drove him to a tragic end. I don't remotely think his outcome could have been my outcome, but I could have chickened out and failed to complete this journey. However spurred on by your best wishes and phenomenal generosity I have become my own personal Knox-Johnston as I sit here in Ruachs small cabin and write this.

But enough of this navel gazing, there is fluff in it anyway...
...On with the blog!

I set off from Craobh with a destination of Gigah just under 40 nautical miles away to the South. A journey that should be reasonably easy with the wind from the North or North West. However nobody told the wind to blow from either of those quarters and so I was close hauled the whole day. By the time I reached Gigha I had an aching left arm from the exertion of steering one tack all day and a stiff neck from the continuous looking forward over my right shoulder.
The day had been almost without incident, but that almost had been a big one. The track took me South East down the Sound of Jura past the Gulf of Corryvrekan. Now Corryvrekan is the site of the worlds third largest whirlpool. It's the kind of place that was marked on the ancient mariners chart with 'Here be Dragons'. I know to respect this place. At the right state of tide and with the correct wind this place is quite benign, in fact I have been through Corryvrekan on occasion over to Colonsay. But I wasn't intending going anywhere near there today. We were almost at spring tides, when the tides run with greatest force as they sluice their biggest range.in and out.
Running at right angles to the main NE tidal flow there is another strong tidal force called ~~Doris Day~~ the Dorus Mor, or the 'Great Door'. This runs between Craignish Point on the mainland and the island of Garbh Reisa. Where the main tidal flow and this 90 degree cross flow meet there are strong overfalls where the sea gets very confused, generally in a fairly narrow band as the opposing flows converge.
Well I could see the line in front of me, I was sailing along at 6.5 knots and I grabbed a quick shot with the camera as I passed through. I glanced down at my chart plotter display to see I had suddenly leaped a considerable distance to my right and my forward speed was now only about 0.25 of a knot, yet I was still speeding through the water as if nothing had changed. What had changed was the power of Dorus Mor had punched me sideways into the clutches of Corryvrekan, I was now being sucked into the gap between Jura and Scarba. I immediately started my little engine and with it racing away headed for a little bay just South of the gap. Now this was a mistake! Usually small bays or even just closing the coast gets you out of the main tidal flow. For example if you needed to make a passage against the tide you can run along a shore in tides of less strength that out in the main flow. However what I failed to observe was the long tidal arrow through this bay marked on my chart. I was running my engine at about full revs and the sails were still pulling well, but I was still only managing about 0.5 knots in the right direction. "Little engine, don't fail me now" I prayed. I'd discovered that this bay was not the safe haven I had hoped for so headed across towards the Crinan shore, as I ferry-glided across the tidal flow my speed across the ground slowly began to increase and once I was at 3 knots I was able to throttle back the engine. I had gotten away with it! (this time).
I have to say, I have sailed around these waters many times and never experienced anything like this before, but from now on I will treat this area with a higher level of respect.

Rainbow off the end of Point of Knap

The rest of the journey was without incident, in fact quite pleasurable. I watched the sun go down, then the moon come up as I glided down the Sound of Gigha to pick up a mooring off Ardminish in the dark. Thankful of the lights provided by the Northern Lighting Board that guided my way.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Surprise! Surprise!

2011-08-23T16:12:00.001+01:00

One thing I forgot to mention last post was my visit to the doctors in Kyle of Lochalsh, (one tries to forget these things). Due to the gammy leg still not being back to health and my supply of horse strength pills running out I had to visit the doctors again. While in the waiting room I was perusing the usual reading matter and spotted a copy of Yachting Life. I picked this up, as usual an old copy, but on scaning the pages I came across an article about yours truly and this trip 'David Goes Over The Top'. Fame at last! (Well something like that). Apparently most of the doctors in the practice are also sailors, so I did become a minor celebrity to the staff.

Now, where were we? Oh yes, dripping in Mallaig. Well, to meet the tide going South round Ardnamurchan Point some 23 miles away to the South West we needed to make a very early start. I left Penny in bed while I got under way.

Departing Mallaig

Rum to the right and Eigg to the left in the early morning light behind the Sgeir Dhearg, (Red Rock) at the entrance to Mallaig Harbour

Subsequently mugs of tea, breakfast cereal and the like started to appear from the cabin, this is much better than sailing single handed I thought.

The islands that had been stolen from view last evening had been returned, now bathed in the low early morning sunlight. It was all very pretty excepting the fact that we were totally becalmed again.

We motored on in the sunshine between the mainland shores of Arisaig and Moidart and the Small Isles of Rum, Muck and Eigg out towards the point of Ardnamurchan.
Here I must tell you that neither Penny or I had been looking forward to rounding this point because for both of us it had been on previous trips the scene where the combination of wind, tide and the Atlantic swell had produced a horrible mal-de-mer inducing sea. (I may add that Penny is not usually susceptible to this malady either). But on this occasion it was so calm that as we passed the point we were almost able to reach out and touch the sturdy rock beneath lighthouse. I never expect to be able to perform this feat again as this weather and tide combination is a very rare event.

Close in to Ardnamurchan Point

Farewell to the Western Isles, I'm now in familiar sailing territory

Today's Factoid
Ardnamurchan Point is the most Westerly point on the British mainland, jutting out into the Atlantic almost a full 20 miles further West than Lands End in Cornwall.

We spent the night in a tiny anchorage in Loch Sunart wedged between the islands of Oronsay and Carna. This is one of my favourite anchorages. Previously here we have seen seals and watched otters play. We had just settled the anchor in when another modern gaff rigged boat came out of Loch Teacuis and came over towards us. The occupants saw the graphics on Ruach’s hull and mentioned that they had read about the trip somewhere. It’s a strange feeling to be anchored in the middle of nowhere then all of a sudden to be ‘recognised!’

Sunset in Loch Sunart

Next morning we again had an early start and so glad we did as it was the best part of the day. We ghosted out of the anchorage in an eerie silence. Hardly a breath of wind, but what there was was going our way. However by the time we reached the outer end of Loch Sunart the rains came and oh how they came!. The clouds descended almost to water level, reducing visibility to a few hundred metres. I usually enjoy a trip up or down the Sound of Mull as it is fairly free of obstructions and you can sail along quite close to the shore observing the flora and fauna undisturbed; but not today, for it was a miserable trip. Damp permeating into our very being. It was grim. If I had been alone I would have found a place to anchor and sit this one out, but I had to get Penny to Oban as this was the end of her week with me.....

......Well I thought I was dropping her off to catch a train home, so I had started to make my plans for my ‘what next’, but Penny realising what I was up to had to ‘fess up’. She wasn’t actually catching a train home that Saturday, but was going to get a lift home with some ‘visitors’ who were coming to see me on my little trip! Who could it be? I tried to guess but drew a blank. But more of this later.

At the southern end of the Sound of Mull the cloud had lifted just a little and we were able to make out Duart Castle in the mist, then appeared Lady's Rock and the Lismore light. We were almost at the end of our days journey. Just five more miles would see us in Oban bay and into the marina on Kerrera.

Duart Castle in the mist.

Factiod No2
Lady's Rock is a skerry to the south west of Lismore which is submerged at high tide.
In 1527, Lachlan Maclean of Duart decided to murder his wife, Lady Catherine Campbell, a sister of Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll. He rowed out to the rock one night at low tide and left his wife stranded on the rock to die. Looking out the next day from Duart Castle he observed the rock was now empty.
He then sent a message of condolence to the earl at Inveraray Castle, indicating that he intended to bring his wife's body there for burial.
Maclean duly arrived at Inveraray with a entourage of men and the coffin. He was immediately taken to the dining hall of the castle for refreshment only to discover Lady Catherine waiting for him at the head of the table. She had been rescued during the night by a passing boat
No word was said of the incident by Argyll or his sister during the meal and Maclean was allowed to make his escape.

That evening, once we had dried out, we caught the complimentary ferry over to Oban itself to await the arrival of the mystery guests. Penny had arranged where to meet and had placed me with my back to the door, but I saw the light in Penny's eyes as 'someone' appeared in the doorway a distance behind me.

My mystery guests were not any of the locals I had tried to guess, but folk who had travelled all the way up from Derby just for the weekend, just to see me on my trip. Totally insane, but a fantastic surprise too. It was our good friends Phil and Clare.

Phil is the muso who I can blame for me bringing the Ukulele on the trip, as it was a brief discussion at their house last Christmastime that prompted me in the direction of getting a Uke to accompany me on this trip. I have to confess that two minutes of Phil playing around with my Uke the following day really did show me how bad I am playing it! Oh well.

Left to right, Phil, Clare, Me, Penny

So, instead of putting Penny on a train home we all went for a short cruise over to Achnacroish on Lismore Island. The forecast was 'iffy' but we managed a gentle sail over in light but warm winds, but on the return trip the rain did put in an appearance, so we all went below and left Clare lashed to the helm.

(This is not strictly true, I was actually on deck attending to the sails at this point while Penny and Phil hid below out of the weather. You just can't get the crew these days it seems!)

First Mate Clare - 'Lashed to the helm'

Kerrera Marina wins the prise for the most exotic marine growth of the whole trip. This photo shows what had attached itself to the pontoons adjacent to where I was berthed. I shudder to think what is now attached to the hull of Ruach!!!

All too soon it was time for my guests to depart. Ruach seems so empty now.

While in Kerrera I saw the the 1930's yawl Bloodhound. This yacht was owned by the British Royal family from 1962 to 1969. It is now owned by the Britannia Trust who also own and maintain the Royal Yacht Britannia based in Leith. I couldn't get a sail aboard this beauty as she was undergoing a heart transplant following an engine failure. But I was invited aboard by James 'Tiny' Little and the rest of the crew for a mug of tea and a look around. Tiny has his own fantastic story to tell as he has completed a charity single handed row across the Atlantic. For more info see Tiny's website here

Royal Yacht - 'Bloodhound'

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Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Can We Fix It? Yes We Can!

2011-08-18T00:44:00.005+01:00

Our splendid mooring on the pontoon at Kyle of Lochalsh

On return from our unsuccessful but delightful sojourn to Portree to obtain parts for our dead engine we arrived back at Kyle of Lochalsh about 4.30pm, with the promise of having to do it all again tomorrow to collect the parts ordered.

The main character of this post - Ruach's Engine

The engine installed in Ruach is not the usual diesel engine fitted by Cornish Crabbers, but an RCA Dolphin, a novel two cylinder petrol engine that has no gearbox. To go astern, you have to stop the engine, pause, then physically start the engine in reverse. This is accomplished by having two complete ignition circuits, one for each cylinder plus a set of changeover solenoids. Each circuit is made up of a coil, a condenser and a set of points. In Ruach the points are totally inaccessible without removing the engine from the boat, so I really hoped that my diagnosis of coil or condenser was correct! The parts are similar to what used to be installed many old cars such as a Mini, Morris Minor, MG etc. So on the off chance I went to the local filling station to see if they could throw any light on finding a replacement part to prove my theory today rather than wait for tomorrows delivery to Portree and trip to recover said parts. On the way to the filling station, in total disbelief, I spied a car hire and parts shop so enquired within.

Again accompanied by a whistling through the teeth I was told that there is no call for these parts anymore. However being a helpful guy he did tell me that up the road towards Plockton there was another garage whose proprietor used to run about in old cars like a Mk1 Jaguar a few years back. So off I now trotted (Time was getting late) to this further recommendation. When I arrived, panting from my uphill exertion, I was told by the receptionist that the guy I needed was unavailable at the moment but would be back soon. While I waited another employee saw me and asked what I wanted, I regaled the full storey to the accompaniment of more whistling through the teeth. “We had a store room full of those until last year” I was told. “We cleared them out and dumped the lot”, “No call for them anymore”. Things were looking grim. Then he said ”Let’s take a look out back”, which was actually out front, across the road in a small’ish walled enclosure where it looked like someone was carrying out some small time scrapping/salvage work.

Amongst the old washing machines that were being stripped down was a few old cars. He looked under the bonnet of all the four cars, most had no engine, but in the third the engine was in place, but no coil. However there was a condenser. The guy needed to go back to the workshop to get a cross head screwdriver to remove it and while he was gone I took a look around and low and behold I spied a coil laying on the passenger seat of an ancient Austin 1300. Was it a good one or a faulty one that had been discarded?

As mine is a charity venture he let me have the recycled parts for free in the hope that they did some good.

Back at the boat I installed just the coil and……..

……..success!

We now had two cylinders purring away once again under the cockpit floor!

I still had to obtain the parts ordered from Portree and was not really looking forward to wasting yet another day doing the round trip. The irony was that the van with the parts would pass within 200 metres of where I was moored, but the driver could only deliver to the shop some thirty’odd miles away. But this is where things finally went in my favour. The following morning Julian from Skye Auto Spares rang at 9.30 when the the parts should have arrived to be told there had been a mix up and the parts were not in his early morning delivery. However the new courier COULD drop the parts off on his way through if I could flag him down at an agreed meeting place. This was done and just before noon I had the replacement parts and by mid-afternoon we were off with the tide sluicing us through Kyle Rea into the Sound of Sleat. Once again Ruach was travelling faster than her maximum speed at 10knots with a huge kick in the pants from the tide.

As a side note, as I walked back down the jetty at Kyle of Lochalsh clutching my batch of automotive spare parts I heard someone call “Dave!” which I thought at the time, that’s my name, but no one round here knows me. Only to realise that the skipper of one of the charter boats was no other than professional Yachtmaster Instructor Alison “Archie” Gemmel who I knew from her previous life in a financial institution. It was great to catch up with her again.

But back to the sailing, Penny, Ruach and Me sailed down the Sound of Sleat in winds changing from light to medium to non-existant and from broad reaching to close hauled as we cruised on towards Mallaig. We spied several porpoise in the sound, but all proved too elusive to the camera. We only had chance to spy into Loch Hourn and Loch Nevis as time was now short, but these looked spectacular with the mountainous peaks rising out of the sides of the Lochs. These delights will have to wait for another trip.

As we passed Ardvasar on the Sleat peninsular the skies ahead got blacker and blacker, but we managed to avoid the majority of the rain until a couple of miles from Mallaig. The vista all around went misty, then land disappeared. On with the waterproofs as an almost tropical storm discharged its load on us. We were looking forward to berthing at the newly installed pontoons in Mallaig harbour and a quick run ashore for a fish supper, but alas it was not to be. The pontoons were still not in commission. (They were supposed to be available from May this year) so we headed for a visitors mooring buoy, and managed to snaffle the last one available before disappearing below to the hot feast Penny had prepared.

A disappearing view across to the entrance of Loch Nevis just as we were about to enter Mallaig

Today's Factoid

Julian from Skye Auto Spares father-in-law played the classic Bass Trombone part for the soundtrack of the James Bond film Goldfinger. He also played for films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fiddler on the Roof & 633 Squadron and well as playing on live shows such as Opportunity Knocks.

Again the poor t'internet connection here has robbed you of more pictures of the engine, faulty coil and replacement parts, plus lots of pictures of 'no horizon' in the pouring rain. I bet you are sooooo disappointed!

I can't wait to get back to real connectivity!!

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family

( Especially the rich ones :-) )

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

All aboard! Ruach has guests

2011-08-13T09:55:00.002+01:00

For those of you that have been following this blog for a while you will remember that I have been accepting rides on other boats wherever possible. It's not that I like other boats better than my own, but I like to share the sailing experience. Well today I get to return that favour and take someone else out in Ruach.
In my last update I mentioned that I wanted to get somewhere accessible so that I could meet up with someone, well this is why.
There are two people in particular I hold responsible for me making this trip. The first being my mother-in-law, because it was she who gave me a book called Blazing Paddles following it's serialisation on Radio 4's book at bedtime. It is a thoroughly good read and I recommend it, but don't blame me for the consequences :-)
The second person has to be the author of that book. A chap called Brian Wilson (No, this one doesn't sing). The book recounts his adventure of paddling a sea kayak from the English/Scottish boarder on the West coast, over the top of our island to the similar demarcation in the East.
In a chance encounter on the internet while doing some research for my trip I found an email address for Brian, so pinged him off an email with the tongue-in-cheek title of 'It's all your fault', outlining what I was intending to do. Brian read the mail and responded with "Anti-clockwise! - Brave man!!" "Give me a call when you get round to the NW - maybe I could hitch aboard for a day and take the blame for setting you off on such a madcap venture!"

Sheildaig

So this is my reason for being here in Sheildaig, Loch Torridon. Meeting Brian had been my main reason for heading initially to Ullapool, but due to other commitments we were unable to meet up there, so the next spot was here in Loch Torridon before I headed off out of range.

Brian Wilson - Author of Blazing Paddles

The weather forecasters had deemed this to be a 'no wind' day, so instead of going for a sail it looked like we were going for a motor around the Loch. Oh well, that gave us time to chat. Brian is an interesting guy with many stories to tell, we motored out of Loch Shieldaig into Loch Torridon then, still in Loch Torridon, round into Loch Diabaig.

Loch Torridon

More Loch Torridon

I asked him what made him inclined to come out for a sail with this guy he had never met, his response was "I get people occasionally contacting me about my books, some telling me how bad they are, others commenting on how inspiring they are, that they would like to do something similar, but then give all the reasons why because of the dog, the wife, the kids or whatever they could not take their own journey", "Where as I had been inspired and was out there making it happen". I took that a quite a complement.

While out there the wind began to blow, so finally off with the engine and up with the sails. We ran back into Sheildaig while I prepared lunch (alas the bacon was off). We then went into Upper Loch Torridon where Brian was able to show me the first hill that his father had taken him hill walking up at the reluctant age of 11.

Brian's 'first hill'

Upper Loch Torridon

The wind continued to fill and before long I had to take down the topsail as we tacked out through the narrows back into Loch Sheildaig. So much for the 'No wind forecast'.

Brian confessed to not really sailing before our trip, but he was excellent on the helm.

Loch Torridon and especially Upper Loch Torridon is a spectacular place to sail.

Alas all to quickly 5pm came round so it was time for Brian to head off. This for me had been one of those special memorable days that will stick with me for a long time.

A final wave before heading off

So what next. Do I moor up for the night or head a bit further South as I was planned to meet another very special person at four o'clock the following day in Kyle of Lochalsh. The forecast for tomorrow was again a no wind day and it is about 28 miles to Kyle of Lochalsh. I didn't fancy having to motor all the way tomorrow when I had a bunch of wind here with me just now, so I headed out of Loch Sheildaig into Loch Torridon for a final time tacking into the Westerly breeze, then headed South with the tide down the Inner Sound.
The wind finally blew itself out after around ten miles. The following day the breeze was only forecast to be a light Easterly. So I dropped my hook in the dark at Applecross. This is not a recommended overnight stopping place, but in the conditions, with my anchor light aglow, proved more than adequate.

I am pleased that I had gone this far as when I woke the next day the water was an absolute glass calm, I started the motor and headed on South. Only about 11 miles to go. Blisteringly hot in the sunshine, two and a half easy hours of puttering, plenty of time to get a shower, do some shopping and still have time to meet Penny, my wife off the train from Inverness. Even if the wind failed to materialise.....
.....or so I thought.
After only 4.5 miles of puttering, the puttering putted less and less. I suspected I was running out of fuel, but a quick dip of the tank confirmed still a quarter tank. I checked for blockages, nothing found. Then I tried testing the sparkie side of the engine. All was well on the front cylinder, but a very poor spark was found on the rear one. So I drifted a bit, sailed a bit, coasted a bit and sailed a bit more all while being roasted under the noonday sun. At one point I lay under my light coloured cotton bed sheet in the cockpit to escape the heat. Time ticked on.... and on. I eventually received a txt that Penny could see yachts in the distance as the railway line follows the coast and that she could even see one with tan sails like ours. Erm, 'that will be me then' I informed her.
Through catching the odd zephyr of a breeze and the odd nudge of the tide in the right direction I was able to sneak under the bridge at Kyle before dowsing most of my sail and ghosting into a fairly full pontoon under just jib alone, furling that at the last possible moment before stepping ashore with my lines. It all looked very professional. But I was doing a great impression of a swan, cool calm and collected above the water, but paddling like mad below. You could almost smell the adrenalin. I'd managed about 6.5 miles in 4 hours, with a lot of open water and a fairly small bridge as a target. Finally mooring my boat down-tide on a short pontoon with my ram rod of a bowsprit getting ever closer to the bows of the boat moored in front.

After much testing and head scratching I diagnosed that either a coil or condenser had failed for the rear cylinder, but where to get a new one fast? The engine manufacturer is still in existence, but as luck would have it they were on holiday this week. After asking around I was told there was an excellent spares shop in Portree on Skye that covered cars, tractors and just about anything mechanical. So the following day Penny and me took a bus excursion to Portree. However on showing Julian the parts I needed there was much sucking of teeth. 'Not stocked those for years mate' however I can get you one for tomorrow.
.....But more of that next post.

All over my charts I keep seeing the word Bogha which I am told is Gaelic for a sunken rock or a rock that is just awash. As Gaelic is a spoken language rather than a written one I wonder if this was the expletive used when someone found a new one? Oh Bogha! :-)
(Before any Gaelic speakers phone-in I'd just like to point out that I am aware of ~~the~~ a correct pronunciation for this. But why let the facts get in the way of a good story)

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Loch Ewe to Torridon

2011-08-11T15:14:00.000+01:00

I awoke in the bay at Aultbea, Loch Ewe, to a strange muffled silence. I looked out to see, ...well, not a lot really. It was foggy. The first I had encountered on this trip. There were just a few grey outlines around the edge of the bay. So in true seaman fashion I turned over and had another snooze.
Come mid morning the sun had burned off the mist and replaced it with a fine drizzle. But as I had some distance to cover I donned waterproof jacket made a start. I had made plans to meet someone the following day, so wanted to get to a location that would be reasonably easy for him to get to. This was strange for me on this trip, having deadlines to meet! the beauty of this trip so far as been no deadlines. Sail when I see fit, when the wind and the weather allow, rather than having to go whatever.

I made my way tacking out of the loch passing the island mentioned previously, the gloriously named Isle of Ewe. (Did you say it out loud to someone? Go on, I dare you). There was a large coastguard vessel moored in the loch. It can be difficult to ascertain if these guys are actually at anchor or not because they tend to anchor by the stern (back) rather than the bows (pointy bit) and they keep their huge engines running 24x7. However he was stationary so I was able to tack quite close under his bows.

Coastguard at anchor in Loch Ewe

To keep to time I needed to use my engine to assist the sailing as the winds were light and I needed to make the headland at Rubha Reidh before the tide turned.

Rubha Reidh Light

With it's usual form as soon as I had rounded the point the wind died away completely and I was left to motor for quite a while before the wind returned as I passed Loch Gairloch. On rounding Rubha Reidh I got my first sight of Skye, grey in the distance.

A first glimpse of Skye

I was tempted to call it a night by the time I reached Gairloch, but with the returned wind I pressed on to my intended destination in Loch Torridon, well actually in Loch Shieldaig which is inside Loch Torridon. Strangely Upper Loch Torridon lies off of Loch Shieldaig.
Somewhere between Loch Gairloch and Loch Torridon the sun set. This was going to be a late finish for me! I finally wound up anchoring close to the village of Sheildaig, tucked away behind it and an island covered densely with Scots pines. It was so quiet here the silence almost hurt your ears. But the downside of this windless peace was my first encounter with the Scottish midge. Just a minor skermish, but maybe a warning of battles to come!

Todays Factoid

Rubha Reidh means Smooth Headland in Gaelic. It is a prominent point jutting out into The Minch about halfway between Stoer Head and the Isle of Skye.
The building of a lighthouse was first proposed by David Stevenson, a cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson in 1853 but, with familiar emphasis on economy, the Board of Trade refused to approve the proposed expenditure of £5,000.
Finally, in May 1908, the Board of Trade sanctioned the expenditure of £14,900 It opened in 1912, but until the road was built in 1962 the only access to the lighthouse was by sea.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Ullapool and beyond

2011-08-10T16:53:00.002+01:00

First I must give you some fantastic news on the charity giving front.
Funds raised for Alzheimer Scotland has now reached over £1000 in donations, plus £500 matched giving through my employer, plus gift aid and for the Alzheimer's Society, not far behind at over £800 in donations plus gift aid. On behalf of the charities and myself a BIG THANK YOU to all who have donated so far.

Back to the plot.
I awoke in Ullapool to the sound of a boat bumping gently into the side of Ruach, it was the harbour launch/water taxi come to collect my mooring dues. It was something very late o'clock. I had slept a sound but exhausted sleep. The crossing from Stornoway had taken more out of me than I thought and my energy reserves were still depleted. I did very little but read and doze the whole day.
Next day I felt much better so time to go ashore and restock fresh provisions.

In the past Ullapool has not been a friendly place for 'yachties' as it was a busy commercial port. The pilot books still reflect this, but as fishing declines it is looking to diversify and as part of this diversification the harbour is trying hard to court visiting yacht crews. There are now a good number of visitors mooring buoys available and no need to pump up the inflatable for the trip ashore as there is a water taxi service which is included in the mooring fee. Brilliant service! Ashore there is also a new'ish Tesco's store an easy walk away. Put this together with the scenery of the Summer Isles and the head of Loch Broom Ullapool is certainly worth a visit if you are up in this neck of the woods.

I headed to the supermarket first then decided to celebrate my second Minch crossing with Fish & Chips served in the sunshine on an open deck above the restaurant with views over the loch and harbour.
Mid-afternoon.

Once back on the boat I chose to have a gentle sail further into the head of Loch Broom before returning to my mooring buoy for another evening. The wind was once again astern as I ran down the loch. On the way down I watched a guy flying a bird of prey on the shore.
I realised that running all the way to the head of the loch would mean that I would have to either beat all the way back out again against the wind or if that proved to be too much like hard work I could always use the motor. However the water was flat with no waves to impede my progress and Loch Broom is mainly steep sided which means you can tack to and fro across the loch only needing to go-about when you can reach out and touch the greenery on the banks thereby making the most of each tack. I rose to the challenge and thoroughly enjoyed the evenings exertion.

Narrows at Corry Point halfway down Loch Broom

The following day it was time to move on again, the forecast was changeable and so was my destination to reflect this. The winds started off very light and fluky, so my first possible objective was to go 'next door' to Little Loch Broom, but I knew I really wanted to get beyond that. Next possible place was in was Gruinard Bay, but I didn't really fancy this as Gruinard Bay is home to Anthrax Island, more properly called Gruinard Island.

Anthrax Island

Todays Factoid
Gruinard Island was the site where the Island was intentionally contaminated with the Anthrax bacterium in 1942 during tests of biological warfare weapons. The Island was not declared safe until a clean-up was carried out in 1986.
For peace of mind this was not my ideal stopping place!!

However next to Gruinard, to the West, is Loch Ewe. Upon reading my chart I just knew I had to go there as Loch Ewe contains the most romantic island in the whole of the UK. It's not specially pretty, it's not in anyway enchanted, but take a look at the chart extract below. Just say the name of the island out loud to someone you love, your significant other or even maybe your boss!

Stornoway catch-up

2011-08-08T16:17:00.003+01:00

I didn't get chance to publish much about Stornoway last time so here are a few bits and bobs.

Todays Factoid
Stornoway is the only official town in the Outer Hebrides.

As you will be aware I managed to miss the HebCeltFest almost entirely, which was a shame, the only part I heard was a few strains drifting through the window as I lay in bed at the Martin's house, then a snippet of some pipers marching onto the site as I returned to living on the boat .
However all was not lost, I did make the final meal and prize giving for Sail Hebrides, they were a good crowd and I was made most welcome.
In addition it was with great pleasure that Jim and me we were able to take the Martin family (The family who looked after me while I recuperated) out for a trip around the harbour on our boats to see the tall ships parade of sail as they departed for Lerwick to start the next leg of their race to Norway.

Ruach dressed for the Tall Ships Parade of Sail

Nancy (One of my 'rescuers') aboard Ruach

Todays Factoid No2

In 1918 the troop ship Iolaire left the Kyle of Lochalsh with almost three hundred navel ratings aboard, returning to their homes on Lewis following the first world war. A gale blew up from the South in the small hours of New Years Day and the Iolaire hit Holm Rock in the entrance of Stornoway Harbour and sank. Over 200 men drowned, their loss affecting almost every family on the island. Most of the survivors owe their lives to John Macleod who jumped into the sea with a line and swam to the shore giving the men a hand hold to follow to safety.

Guest cameraman for the Tall Ships section of this video is young Donald Martin, who ably assisted while I sailed the boat.

At the end of this short video is an ancient set of standing stones, thought to be around 4000 years old and then a fantastic beach near the Butt of Lewis (stop sniggering at the back!)

It's Alive!

2011-08-02T00:00:00.000+01:00

I'm pleased to say I'm back on passage. Thanks for all your prayers and best wishes. The Doc has discharged me with a stock of horse-strength antibiotics and dire warnings about ensuring I complete the full course.

My first passage since being back on the boat was a bit of a marathon 46 miles across the North Minch between the Outer Hebrides and the Scottish mainland. The wind was a good solid breeze of between a force 4 and 5, the sea was quite lumpy with waves being between 1.5 and 2 metres high, the Minch is famed for it's short steep waves.

It all started off quite calm leaving Stornoway with the wind almost behind me, which meant the wind was going to be in the forecast direction for the majority of the trip. The breeze was very calm at this point and I did contemplate hoisting the topsail while in the lee of the Eye peninsular, but I'm glad that I waited until I was clear of the land before making that decision, as once free of the land I felt the full force of the wind. Also because of the waves 'Otto' the auto-pilot was not up to taking the helm so I hand steered the whole way across. The last three hours were made a little uncomfortable as a lazy wave had decided to lollop aboard hitting me smack in the small of my back instantly soaking my fleece, sweat top, shirt, trousers and undies. Not only that but a little of it managed to find it's way into the cabin too. Thankfully not too much, but a lesson learned; put both washboards in place when waves are large and the wind is abaft the beam. I'd read the books, done the courses but had failed to put that knowledge into practice. From there on it did make me a little nervous each time a wave broke somewhere close behind me with a strange schwwwwwwsh erupting in my ear. Thankfully no more waves wanted a lift to Ullapool. I completed the 46.4 miles in 9 hours, that is an average of over 5 knots for the trip. Not bad for the conditions. I tied up to the first visitors mooring buoy I found, wolfed down a hot meal of Fellside Beef Chile con Carne and pasta then collapsed into a long heavy sleep.

Apologies for the lack of photos or video in this update but the t'internet connection is much slower than wet string where I am just now and I wanted to get this update to you to let you know I am still alive.
I'm currently so much better than when this darned infection first took hold, but still have a little way to go before I'll be firing on all cylinders.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family

( Especially the rich ones :-) )

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

In Dry Dock for Repair

2011-07-15T01:07:00.002+01:00

That's me in dry dock, not Ruach, but more of that later.

I spent a few days in Kinlochbervie, again either too much wind or not enough wind. On the last day stuck in port Barry offered to take myself and two other stormbound sailors for a trip by road to some of the local lochs and anchorages, ending up for a drink at the far side of the bridge at Kylesku. What a fantastic cruising ground this is, set in spectacular scenery.

Looking towards the Bad Call Islands

I'm not sure how to title this picture, Maybe "last of the summer wine" as Barry, left is 67, Maurice centre is 82 and Jim on the right is just not telling"(More of Jim later), maybe "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" but I'm not naming who is who. Whatever they are called we had a great day out

Looking towards the Handa Island Wildlife Sanctuary from Tarbet

The following day it was a seven am kick off for the trip across the Minch to Stornoway. Four yachts departed at roughly the same time, Maurice peeled away left to savour the lochs and anchorages we had spied the previous day, leaving three yachts to continue the fifty mile crossing.

Farewell Kinlochbervie

We were soon widely dispersed as I had had my sails up since leaving Loch Inchard whereas the other two had set off and continued under engine alone. In truth I was being wildly optimistic as the winds were very light, at one point my instruments indicated I was to arrive in Stornoway at 10am, not the same day, not the next even, but the following day. I admitted defeat and fired up the iron topsail. To keep fuel consumption to a minimum for what was going to be a bit of a marathon crossing I set the throttle to push me along at 4.5 knots, this was fine for a few hours until the engine started to overheat, not dangerously so, but hotter than usual. I lifted the engine hatch to see an animated fountain of salty water spraying droplets all over the inside of the engine bay. Was this to be the first major mechanical breakdown of what has been so far a trouble free trip? (Erm, no, not the first because what I haven't told you so far is that I haven't had astern available to me since I left Elie in the Firth of Forth, several hundred miles ago. It has all been avante! avante! But that is another storey)

I discovered the fault was with the raw water pump, it looked like a bearing or seal had failed, so I reasoned that as the pump was still pumping I could continue as long as I kept monitoring the situation, resting the engine whenever a zepher came along or as needed. My logic for this course of action was that anywhere within striking distance on the mainland was probably less equipped to deal with this type of problem than Stornoway, the capitol of the Western Isles.

On we plodded eating up the miles. I broke out the Ukulele for light relief from the hum of the motor. That was a first for this trip, playing the Uke while under-way.

At first I couldn't see the Island chain which is the Outer Hebrides, but I knew where they were because of the line of clouds that gave away their existence. Then a few peaks appeared followed by a long low blip on the forward horizon. The hills behind me faded into blue/grey washes on misty blue canvas of sky before slipping away over the horizon astern.

About six miles out from Stornoway Dolphins came to play with me. My filming of this is not great, I couldn't see a thing in the view finder as the sun was so bright, the camera was on the wrong setting half the time, I was far far too excited, but the experience was brilliant!

Sailing with Dolphins

Taking something like 14 hours to complete the crossing while nursing a sick engine was some achievement.

Another impressive achievement was on the following day stripping down the old pump to see what parts would be needed, aided and abetted by Jim (The blind leading the blind). finding that this pump was of a much older vintage than the manual I had for it. A worst case scenario was going to be a complete new pump, which of course "they don't make 'em like that any more", and the replacement costing the thick end of £200, plus carriage to the islands, plus whatever odds and ends would be needed to connect the new pump to the old fittings, then of course plus the dreaded value added tax at 20%, only to find the problem seems to be a blockage in the greaser tube. I may still need to replace a small plastic bush at about £6 plus shipping and tax and it has cost me the skin off my knuckles and a days labour, but I now know more about my boat and at this time I am one happy bunny.

However, that was yesterday as they say. Now the reason for the title to this update. I woke up Monday morning, quite early for me, hands and feet like icebergs but with a head as hot as fire, and oh how I ached.

Thankfully after going for a walk to try to get my temperature to equalise between head and feet I realised I had been here before, I suspected that the flu like symptoms were coming from an infection called cellulitus. Because of the raging temperature I knew I needed to get to a doctor ASAP before I started to speak total gobbledegook (worse than normal that is). Harbour office to get docs appointment, taxi to medical centre, ages waiting for the doctor; I could feel 'me' slipping away. Once with the doc I blurted out what was going on, what I diagnosed and what I needed, that was the max dose antibiotic treatment she could prescribe for me now! Thankfully she was very understanding (I bet doctors hate patients who think they know best). She also tried to get me into the hospital for observation as I was alone on the boat with a fairly serious illness, but there was no room for me there. In which case she arranged to call me later to monitor how I was progressing. Finally back to the boat via the chemist for sleep.

At the boat I was met by Jim and some people from the Maritime Festival. Mandy, one of the organisers took one look at me and said when she completed doing her stint at the Festival she would return and whisk me away to a land based bed to recover.

Little did I know what other plans were being put into operation. Nancy, who goes to my Church in Livingston, was visiting her daughter Allison and family who have recently moved to Stornoway. Penny, my wife, txt'd Nancy asking if Allison knew of anyone who could put me up for a few days as the hotels and B&Bs are full due to the HebCeltFest, Tall Ships and Maritime Festival all taking place this week. (I had met Allison, Paddy and the three boys the day previous for the first time and I knew that they already had a full'ish house with Nancy staying there too). The first thing I knew was being woken from sleep by the sound of my mobile phone, to hear Allison tell me she was coming to pick me up. Poor Alan, at 16 and a half, turfed out of his bed and this poor old bloke he hardly knew had taken over his room. For the next three days I lay there only raising for visits to the doctors and calls of nature. Alan, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your sacrifice. To Donald and Ian too, all three of you being pushed into the one room for an indeterminable period for me, you have my thanks.

On the fourth day a significant improvement. Now slightly more compos mentis. I'm able to write this blog, that's just where I'm up to now. I am totally indebted to Paddy and Allison for opening their home so readily. I'm their first non-family guest here on the island, but now I feel like part of the family.

So far while here I've missed the majority of the Maritime Festival, missed the arrival of most of the Tall Ships and the start of the HebCeltFest. But such is life eh.

I guess it may yet be a few days before I have anything more to blog about. So your inboxes will receive a well earned rest while I continue my recovery.

For me, time now for pills, five four times a day is my prescription!!!

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family

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Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Cape Wrath

2011-07-10T15:03:00.005+01:00

Todays Factoid - Cape Wrath, sounds frightening doesn't it. Well it is a place that can have angry tides, it's where Atlantic storms roll in un-impeded from the US, Canada and the tip of Greenland, with over 3000 miles of fetch. To confuse the waters even more, the tides that run up the west side of our little island tend to flow in in a North Easterly direction and ebb out to the South West. At Cape Wrath these tidal flows meet and fight for dominance with the Atlantic flow.
However for all that Cape Wrath doesn't mean Angry Cape. Wrath is a corruption from the Norse word hvarf, meaning turning place, the point where Vikings used to turn east for home or south to the Hebrides. A similar meaning to Cape in fact. So Cape Wrath means Cape Cape. (So good they named it twice). But as Private Frazer from Dad's Army was wont to say, 'it's a wild and lonely place'

From a sailing point of view in a small boat, the worst thing about Cape Wrath is its remoteness. From leaving Loch Eriboll there is almost nowhere to hide if it turns nasty until reaching Loch Inchard with Kinlochbervie tucked into its northern shore over thirty miles distant. Comparing this with Duncansby Head, the previous 'big corner' top right of the map, which has safe havens just a couple of miles either side of the point.

I set my alarm for six am to get me on the move for six-thirty. I wanted to reach Faraid Head off Durness by nine. Best laid plans and all that. When I arose the wind was coming hard from the North, totally the wrong direction. Still I thought I could still make the appointed time if I motored out of Eriboll. As I progressed North out of Eriboll The winds went light, then went West (Bad for my trip), went South West (even worse), then died completely. Where was the forecast Easterly? I arrived at Farraid Head just as a little Easterly sneaked into the wind. The water off the head was as lumpy as school mashed potatos. Glad I'd kept my sea legs handy.
I began to doubt I could make the the next seven miles to the Cape if it continued like this. Ruach was dropping into holes then pointing into the air to slam down onto the back of the next wave.
Thankfully past the head things calmed down and I started to make reasonable progress.

A first sight of Cape Wrath after passing the lumpy water off Faraid Head

By the time I got to the Cape itself there was just a long Atlantic swell and a wind well astern. The sun shone and the grin widened. I was here, I WAS HERE! I passed close in to the Cape, between it and Duslic rock. The long swell was breaking over the rock as it passed. The Cape towered over to my left, at around 400 feet (122m) the cliffs here are some of the highest in the UK.

Cape Wrath

Cape Wrath behind me!

Once passed the Cape I continued South towards Loch Inchard. Coming in the opposite direction was the Hebridean Princess. This vessel is an old CalMac ferry which on retirement was converted to be a luxury small cruise liner that is charted by the rich and the famous. It is reported that this was the 'secret location' that a certain royal couple spent their short honeymoon on earlier this year. However who was on her at this time remains a secret.

The Hebridean Princess

As I approach Loch Inchard I spied another gaff rigged yacht coming out. This turned out to be the yacht 'kipper' built in Whitby on the English East Coast. Her skipper is Barry Pearson, who was the nephew of the controversial artist Stephen Pearson. Barry is also an artist (among many other talents). You can see some of his work here

'Kipper'

Over the next few days the weather couldn't make up its mind, it was either too windy or no wind at all, so Ruach took root in the harbour at Kinlochbervie. On one windless evening I went out on 'kipper' for a cruise down loch Inchard with Barry. The water is so clear and the edges of the loch are so free of obstruction that as we went down the loch we could have reached out and touched the sides. Barry tells me that at the right state of tide he will do this and pull a pan full muscles from the rocks. We spent a very pleasant evening creeping up on the local flora and fauna.

View from my pontoon mooring - Kinlochbervie

Well now, on passing Cape Wrath phase one of my trip is over. I have achieved what I set out to do.

I have taken my little ship over the top of Scotland!

No longer 'David goes over the top!', now 'David has gone over the top!'

The next phase is to explore some of the islands around the Hebrides and visit some of the Lochs along this shore. I hope to participate in the Hebridean Maritime Festival in Stornoway which is run at the same time'ish as the Heb Celt Fest. If you are at either of these events pop by Ruach and say 'Hi'

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Skullomie and 'Orrible Eriboll

2011-07-06T18:47:00.001+01:00

I spent a few idyllic days in Skullomie, taking in the scenery and enjoying the remoteness. I had mobile phone signal if I wandered off up the hill, but only the barest trickle of internet access enough for the odd mail home. I was getting t'internet withdrawal symptoms.

I had moored at the head of the harbour over a smooth mud & sand bottom, so at low water Ruach dried out while waiting to be lifted by the next tide. The winds came mainly from the South West which meant I was totally protected in the harbour. The raising and falling of the tides was done with such gentleness that it never once disturbed my sleep. I just woke occasionally with this strange sensation of my head being lower than my feet when I moored the boat with the bows were pointing North.

Oystercatchers combed the intertidal line just feet from my cockpit. Different types of small fish competed for food amongst the seaweed in the shadow of my keel. All fascinating to watch. Sheep bleated across the bay and cows gave a long low moo at milking time up the hill. It was like being a million miles from nowhere.

Today's Factoid - Skullomie, pretty as it is, was only built for one purpose. It was never built as a fishing harbour, or even a supply harbour for the old VIC boats. The purpose of the harbour was to load boats full of a human cargo as part of the Scottish clearances.

One evening, about five o'clock, I decided to take a sail over to Talmine where my wife Penny and I had spent a land-based holiday some years previous. I sailed out North East past the tip of the Rabbit Islands, it was a really nice wind, the sails were pulling well over the flat calm sea. Ruach egged me on to keep going North East and I egged Ruach on, although unplanned maybe, just maybe, we were going to round Whiten Head and get into Loch Eriboll instead of reaching Talmine. Eight miles out and just about peeping into the entrance of Loch Eriboll the tide turned with a strength that said NO. So I turned Ruach's head around and we romped back across a now rolling sea to Skullomie like two naughty school children. We averaged 3.5 knots out and 6.5 knots back on almost a reciprocal track.

While I've been out in the wilderness I've not been idle. I had said that I intend bringing Ruach back in a better condition than when I left. So see the before and after shots below and see what you think?

Before.....

.....After

Just a start, plenty more to do!!

Today's Factoid 2 - In the eighteenth century the Kyle of Tongue was the scene of a sea battle between a French and a British battleship. It transpires that the British vessel won the skirmish and the French surrendered. But the irony of this is that both vessels were captained by the Irish Captains.

This leg of the trip over the North shore of this land has been remarkably remote with only one vessel spotted in the whole week since leaving Wick.

Ships that pass in the ~~night~~ day

The following day, the day I had originally set aside as the day to nip round to Loch Eriboll, or Loch 'Orrible as the seamen used to call it as they waited while mustering an Atlantic convoy in the war, the wind was fair so again I took the North East track past the Rabbit isles to Whiten Head and into the Loch. Once away from the Head and it's powerful tides I had a gentle run into the loch to Anchor on the South side of Ard Neckie. This Loch is quite spectacular for it's features. Pinnacle stacks of rock stand sentinel over the entrance, followed by caves on its north Eastern shore, then further in the shores widen with both high and low vistas. This was much different from the Loch 'Orrible I had imagined. I was very grateful in the security of the replacement anchor I had obtained in Wick as the main Danforth anchor I had brought with me had been bent in a blow way back in Elie which seems like years ago.

Whiten Head - Loch Eriboll

Caves - Loch Eriboll

My time in Eriboll was all to brief as the conditions the following day were perfect for an assult on Cape Wrath.

........But more of that next time.

Finally round the bend!

2011-07-05T23:06:00.003+01:00

Promising sky the evening before setting off from Wick

I was (almost) up when I heard Andrew and a friend come down the pontoon. Yes, finally it looked like the weather was 'on' for this morning. A very light Northerly going wind met us in the bay, but there were some very black clouds to the South. Mudlark lead the way out of Wick harbour and once in the bay we both made sail, this was definitely going to be a topsail day.
I've annotated the sketch below to help the less nautically minded (Is that okay Bianca?)

Mudlark off Wick

It's been good having another Crabber around but, after playing together for a while towards Noss Head, I realised that if I were to make my appointment with the tide at the Pentland Firth I needed to head off. So with a wave I left Mudlark and headed North. The wind had filled in just a little and I was being chased by the rain. We were progressing at about 2.5 knots against the last of the South going tide. Unfortunately with this progress we were going to be late for our appointment so I started the engine to give me the required 4.5 knots to make my rendezvous at Duncansby Head. The wind sometimes came then died away along with the rain showers that still trailed me, so the engine went alternately on and off, just too keep up my average speed. It looked like I was keeping up with the front of the rain clouds too as I could see more persistent rain falling over the land astern and to port.

Duncansby Stacks

Duncansby Head

Just past Duncansby Stacks, as Ruach and I approached Duncansby Head the water got quite choppy and confused, the wind again had gone very light, so yet again it was on with the motor for the few hundred yards it took to get me to the head. On rounding the head the wind was still from the South so it became a gentle broad reach in flat calm water. I guess I was sailing through the water at about 2.5 knots, but due to the tides through the Pentland Firth in actual fact Ruach was flying at an unprecedented 10 knots. The only time Ruach has ever done over 10 knots before will have been on her road trailer.

John O'Groats

Within a matter of minutes we were at that imposter of the far North - John O'Groats. It used to boast that it was "the furthest North you can get by road", but in recent years it has changed its boast to "Our claim to fame: Not the most northern village... but the northerly end of the longest distance between two points on the British mainland. Land's End being the other".

Eh? Not only does this mouthful hardly trip off the tongue, but now it barely even makes sense.

How about this one for them "John O'Groats, not quite as far North as you can get" See, much easier and factually correct.

Dodging between the mainland and the island of Stroma, my next obstacle was the Merry Men O' Mey; this is an area of confused water that can be extremely dangerous in a West going tide. They run North West from the 'Men of Mey' Rocks to the island of Hoy. For me though today they were only doing a gentle dance which hardly impeded my progress.

Passing Dunnet Head, the real 'most Northerly point on the British mainland', I had planned to turn into Thurso Bay and spend a night in Scrabster, but because of the fantastic progress made with wind and tide working in concert it was still only 11:30, not even lunchtime. At this time I was also still racing along at 8 knots so I pressed on. My next potential stopover was the remote Sandside Bay, a little past the Sphere of the Dounreay atomic power station. By now I had slowed to a sedate 5.8 knots (Usually for Ruach this would be a fast 5.8 knots) and it was still only 13:30. I calculated that if I were prepared do take a couple of hours of foul tide on the nose at the end of the day I could press on and make it to the Kyle of Tongue, 62 miles from my start point that day. This wind and tide were too good to waste, so off West we sped.

About 10 miles from Tongue the wind departed and the tide turned foul, thankfully the tide is much weaker this far West, so I turned on the engine and watched the isle of Eliean nan Ron slowly grow in my view.
But then, quite suddenly an evil menacing cloud appeared over the island, engulfed it and eradicated it. My horizon was drawing in fast. I doused the topsail and staysail just in case. I guessed that whatever was coming was either going to steal the last of the wind, or increase it, potentially violently. On it's arrival, the sky above me was leaden then I heard the shhhhhh of the rain, a powerful dousing rain that took all visibility, stung the skin where it touched and totally flattened any waves. The wind increased, but nowhere near to the extent that I expected, it changed direction by 180 degrees, so was now from the North, then we were off, no engine needed now, sailing towards the goal. Now sailing a compass course as the island was gone from sight.

The approach of the cloud

By the time I reached Eliean nan Ron the rain and wind had gone so I motored into the small derelict harbour of Skullomie in the Kyle of Tongue.

A man with a very satisfied grin on his face.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family

( Especially the rich ones :-) )

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Let's go round again....

2011-06-25T20:34:00.000+01:00

Not a lot to tell you today. I was glum this morning due to the weather not playing ball.
I had a couple of phone calls to help me wake, thanks guys, much apriciated :-). Then had a couple of txt's from worried folk that I'd either overslept or forgotten to turn the tracking device on. (this was before they were awake enough to read my last blog entry.
It's comforting to know that you guys are keeping an eye on me.

I walked a couple of miles to restock with some fresh provisions.
Read part of two books. Charles Stock's 'Sailing just for fun', just in case I needed a reminder and 'The Grace Outpouring' by Roy Godwin and my old mate Dave Roberts, an amazing story of God's work at Ffald-Y-Brenin.
I practised a little Ukulele; Now I wonder should that read 'I practised on a little Ukulele' or 'I practised for a short while on the Ukulele'? You make up your own mind.
I turned Ruach around, nose to the wind, so she thinks that this time we are 'going for it' (Also to stop the bloomin' cold wind getting into the cabin). Whatever reason, it gives me a different vista as I write this.

Not really a lot to show for the day, however I have been pawing over all sorts of weather forecasts and synoptic charts to try to make sense of what is going on. I've come to the conclusion that the forecasters have as much of an idea as I do about what will happen say twelve hours from now. As it stands we are on again for tomorrow morning, so up at six tomorrow to meet the tide at the Pentland Firth. At least that is an additional hour in bed compared to this morning.

Take note:

Assuming I get onto the North coast sometime soon there is a chance that I will be going 'dark' on you. I'm told that there is minimal coverage for blogging on the North coast, so don't worry about me keeping up this tirade of blog updates, it won't last. But the good news is that the tracker on the main website will continue to function as it uses a different technology.

That's about it for now. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family

( Especially the rich ones :-) )

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Weather to go, or not it seems

2011-06-25T07:07:00.002+01:00

Just a quicky....
You may notice that on the main website on the 'where am I' page there is no track moving effortlessly across the screen this morning. this is despite receiving the early morning wake up phone calls (Thank folks). The weather has decided not to play ball, instead of being the nice force four as forecast and required for this passage, I woke to a force five. gusting six. This is not what I ordered!
Oh well, breakfast on some excellent organic Noss beef sausages and baked beans plus a mug of builder strength tea. H'mm, I feel better for that.
BTW I've updated the map on the front page of the main website to show where I am to date. End of the red line top right.

Pertinent to the charity I am asking you to support while I'm on this trip it was sad to hear that Lieutenant Columbo has died. Actor Peter Falk passed away on Friday following a long bout with Alzheimer's disease.

The man in the mac

So, what to do today? I'm sure I will find something.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you later.
David H.

In and around Wick

2011-06-24T18:30:00.003+01:00

Last evening I had a trip on another vessel (Third on this trip). I went out with a fellow Mk1 owner Andrew on his Crabber Mudlark. We have both had our boats a similar amount of time, so we have been comparing and contrasting our two craft over the last couple of days.
It has been the first time for both of us to see another Mk1 Crabber in the flesh as it were. Great fun.

Andrew, skipper of Mudlark

While I have been having this enforced stay in Wick waiting for the right combination of tide and wind I have been keeping myself busy with the local area. Did you know for example that Wick has the shortest street in the world! At just 6'9" Ebernezer Place is recognised as such in the Guinness Book of Records.
The street has only one door, it is No1 surprisingly. You wouldn't think it needed a number really would you.

No1 Ebernezer Place

Also while we are on this track, pun intended, Wick railway station has the claim to fame of being the terminus of the 'Far North Line', even though it is not the furthest North. The railway actually goes up to Thurso then back down to Wick. In my youth I remember students travelling immense distances on the railway for peanuts on a special ticket for students. The deal was something like 'travel anywhere on the rail network for a fixed sum' which was something like a £5'er. So they would plan trips from all over the UK to Wick to get the most value out of their bargain priced ticket, just because they can!

Wick Station

After these facts all I can say is I can't wait to get sailing again. Hopefully tomorrow (Saturday) morning the wind will be from the forecast South East as the tide is at it's weakest (neaps) to allow me to sneak round the corner onto the North shore of this fair land. I need a 5am kick off to meet the tide.
To make sure I'm up and about in time give me a quick call on the mobile if you are up :-)

Thanks for the emails of support you guys have sent me. However a couple of people have made comments along the lines of "I wish the photos were a bit bigger"
Well they can be!! Just click your mouse on a picture and it will expand, use the back button or arrow in your browser to get back to the blog.
While we are at it, any orange word is also a clickable link, Just click on one see where it goes.

Hope that helps.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Regards,
David H.

Lybster to Wick

2011-06-23T14:59:00.003+01:00

The departure from Lybster was much less dramatic than the arrival. We just slipped the shore lines and motored out onto an almost flat calm sea. Otto took over the helm while I hoisted the sails. Once the sails were drawing well we shared the helm between Otto, Ruach and me. Because the conditions were so calm and the coast here is very steep to with few off lying dangers I sailed in close to get a good look at the cliffs, accompanied by the ‘maw, maw, maw’ of the gulls swirling across its face. For some reason gulls around here are known as maws, I wonder why?
We were headed for Wick, about 16 miles to our North East. As we left we were at the top of the tide and it was about to start ebbing out of the Moray Firth adding to my speed through the water.

A ruin of a fishing station close to Lybster

Waterfall

On arrival at Wick I was met at the gate to the pontoon by Malcolm Bremner the harbour master. He asked about me and the trip I was on, then happened to mentioned that he was just about to take the Isabella Fortuna out for a test run after completing some work on her engine. This was a chance too good to miss so I asked if I could come along too. Even though I had just arrived in Wick harbour, within half an hour I was heading back out to sea for a short proving trip on this historic ship. The highlight of the trip for me was being handed the helm for the return leg to the harbour, not only that but being able to helm this 120 year old, 40 ton vessel back to her berth under Malcolm’s watchful eye. The Isabella Fortuna is a herring fishing vessel of a type known as a Fifie. Of the many hundreds of these vessels that existed there are now only around four left in existence.

The Isabella Fortuna

The next leg of my journey will take me through the perilous Pentland Firth which not only requires careful timing due to the tides but also it requires a wind less than a force 4 with a lot of East in it. So it looks like I am to be in Wick for a few days. The current forecast is that I will have the right winds with me on Saturday 25th June, which is also a neap tide (Which also incidentally is my Dad's Birthday too. Happy Birthday Dad!)

.....and finally - Is this a pirates curse?

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Lossiemouth to Helmsdale, erm Lybster

2011-06-21T19:53:00.001+01:00

16 miles off the Caithness coast

Set off towards Helmsdale with glorious sunshine, the wind again straight up the tailpipe, which started off being terrific as the miles counted off, 1, 2, 3.. 7 miles offshore, 18 more to go; then the wind tailed off a little, changed direction by about 15 degrees which left a very sloppy sea with waves coming from two directions, the motion was up and down from the back and corkscrewing from the starboard aft quarter (Back right-hand corner for you landlubbers). A horrible motion that I knew I couldn’t cope with for too long. Although I have gained a set of sea-legs while on this journey, I wasn’t confident that they would stand up for another three hours plus of this motion. What to do? I could either sail off slightly away from my intended destination to give the boat a better motion, then kind of tack downwind to achieve my goal, or maybe I could switch goals to the tiny port of Lybster, 26 miles away, an extra eight miles but in a more comfortable direction, with probably faster sailing. The decision was easy, the course was plotted and the Ruach took off in the new direction towards Lybster. We were flying, almost 7 knots, leaping from wave to wave. I called the harbourmaster to ensure that in these conditions a landing at Lybster would be tenable. No response! It was now up to my skill and judgment to decide to enter or not. Lybster is just a small indentation in the coast, the pilot books state that it is safe for winds from all directions ONCE INSIDE. The entrance is just 9 metres wide with unwelcoming rocks on one side. Two miles off I decided to get most sail off of Ruach. This was going to be interesting as the surf was blowing off the top of most waves. I furled away the jib (front sail), I dropped the mains’l (The big main one). This left me with just the staysail to help counter the bucking bronco the seas were throwing up. Using the engine to control my approach I aimed for the lighthouse, then when almost within touching distance turned to glide into the harbour. The tumult instantly subsided. We had arrived! The fun wasn’t quite over as Lybster harbour is made up of an inner and outer harbour. The outer being further inland than the inner one, so once in the outer harbour a 180 degree turn is required to enter the inner harbour. (If this sounds a little like the rules of cricket take a look at the picture below, simple really).

Lybster Harbour

Just as I turned the engine puttered to a stop. Quick as a flash I dropped the anchor and stowed the staysail. I then poked my nose into the engine compartment to see what had happened? It looks like I still have some dirt in the fuel tank as the fuel filter was empty with the tank a quarter full. I’m not surprised really, the tank had had a real shakeup for the last few hours. I looked up and one of the small fishing boats were just on their way out from the inner harbour to lend me a hand, but the engine started and they were not required, I was welcomed into the harbour and directed to tie up to one of the fishing boats by Louise. As soon as we were made fast I was offered a cuppa, a shower, a dram up at the house which, once I had changed into dry clothing, I accepted the cuppa in the big warm kitchen. The house was full of international guests attending a house-painting party. Louise and Mano open their house to ‘couch surfers’ to help bring a bit of variety into their small community. I stayed in this warm kitchen until after midnight debating the world and everything. Once we had put all that to rights it was back to Ruach for a long heavy sleep.

Louise & Mano's freshly painted house.

The following day I had the privilege to be invited back to the newly painted Inver House for a BBQ tea. Where I met a number of the locals as well as the international guests.

Portnockie to Lossiemouth

2011-06-19T12:00:00.041+01:00

On arrival at Lossiemouth, or Lossie to the locals, I called the harbourmaster to secure a berth, but being out of hours I spoke once again to an answer-phone.

Sunset over Lossiemouth West Basin

All too many of these harbours are feeling the economic pinch and reducing their manned hours. This is a sad sign of our times. Still, that gave me to option to pick my own berth once inside. I chose an easy space in the East basin. The following day I went to the office to meet Ian the harbourmaster, a gently spoken ex-services man who welcomed me to the harbour. He made me feel very welcome as he introduced me to the usual showers toilet and laundry (again very clean) Ian is a credit to this harbour. I spent a couple of days here being buzzed by the military in what seems like 24x7 operational training.

Lossiemouth East Basin

Today’s Factoid – Lossiemouth is located at the point of Stotfield Head. Just around the corner from the current harbour there was previously located the Hythe, Stotfield’s harbour, where on Christmas Day, 1806, 21 fishermen put to sea. After hauling their fishing lines they made for the shore when a fierce storm blew up from the SSW and not one of the boats were ever seen or heard of again. Twenty-one men and boys, the entire men-folk of the village perished that day. The oldest male left in the village was a boy of 12 years of age, besides two bedridden old men. A sad tale indeed.

How small were Lossiemouth fishermen of old? Compare this door with the road cones.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and famil

( Especially the rich ones :-) )

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Banff to Portnockie

2011-06-17T12:00:00.000+01:00

Following my arrival at Banff Marina, James the harbourmaster came to welcome me and introduce me to the facilities. One of these facilities being a washing machine and drier, located in a room off of his office. So at last the laundry was done!! I also made use of the very clean toilet and shower in the marina. What a clean boy.

I stayed a couple of days in Banff, sleeping long and catching up on emails etc. James was also very helpful in taking me to the petrol station at the top of the town to fill up Ruachs' petrol tanks. this saved me a very steep walk there and back with 20 litres of fuel.

One afternoon James mentioned that he was going out for an evening sail in his Westerly Centaur, so I asked if he wanted a crew. Offer accepted we sailed about five miles West to Portsoy, while sailing he regaled me with tales of the actor Timothy Spall and his barge which overwintered in Banff. Off Portsoy we met a couple of other Banff yachts, so all returned together on the gentle evening breeze. The Westerly Centaur is not one of the fastest boats around, but they are very capable safe seaworthy boats. the Centaur was one of the first yachts I skippered and this sail brought back many fond memories.

I think Ruach was starting to take root in Banff so it was time to haul anchor and head to pastures new. The following day I set out for Portnockie, about 10 miles further up the coast.

I recieved a phone call from Bruce, a guy I had not seen for far too many years. A mutual friend had alerted him to my little adventure (Thanks John). So we arranged to meet up once I arrived at Portnockie.

Just before arriving at Portnockie I passed the little port of Cullen. This port is made famous by the dish Cullen Skink. Now I'm led to believe that the Skink around Cullen are related to the Haggis, the small hairy beasties that have one leg shorter than the other to ease their grazing in the Scottish highlands. The way these wee beasties are caught is to chase them the wrong way around the hillside until they overbalance and roll down the hillside to be caught in the glen below. Whatever the Skink is, they do make a tasty soup.

The Port of Cullen, famous for Cullen Skink

Interesting 'Bow Fiddle' rock formation near Portnockie

A mile off the port I received another phone call from Bruce, "Fancy a fish supper?". Now who am I to refuse such an offer. Half an hour later I'd been introduced to Bruce's daughter Eve and we were feasting on Cullen's finest Chips.

Bruce & Eve

Three year old Eve was more than happy climbing up the vertical harbour wall ladders with gay abandon; These are the ladders that I certainly don’t enjoy climbing.

Eve at the helm of Ruach.

"Come on Dad, can we get our boat in the water too"

Just before leaving town Alsion, Bruces wife came down to the pier to see me too. What a great suprise, and what a great day. We really must keep in touch this time.
Finally this day I was rewarded with a Portnockie sunset.

Sunset over Portknockie

Today's Factoid - Portknockie is in Gaelic Port Chnocaidh, the hilly port.... and it certainly is.
The port surrounded by a natural bowl of rock atop the village is placed. Which of course means no phone signals in or out..... Bliss :-)

Ruach turned out to be quite a spectacle in town, whenever I looked up to the top of the harbour wall there seemed to be someone else looking back at me. Or if I was walking back to the boat from a sojourn ashore there were often one or two people looking over her from the quay. When they saw me coming they’d frequently pass the time with me having a bit of a ‘bleather’ about boats and such.

On my final night in Portnockie I was to receive an unwelcome surprise. the Harbour master came down to the boat about 5.30 to suggest I squeeze into the inner harbour as it was going to blow up a bit in the night. One of the locals helped me move into the inner harbour. Then stayed for a cuppa and a chat aboard Ruach. His boat was the pretty Shetland double-ender moored next to Ruach. It is believed to be the sixth boat from the bottom pictured here.

Then during the night blow up it did. Force 8 occasionally 9 according to the forecast, with the seas breaking over the harbour wall I can believe it too.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.ukyou will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey orwww.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Peterhead to Banff

2011-06-16T18:34:00.001+01:00

The next stage of my journey sees me going round the bend again, well instead of continuing North East I need to turn inland into the Moray Firth heading West for a while. If I had a big fast boat maybe I would have headed straight North to Wick, but then I would have missed out the delights of several olde worlde fishing ports and their inhabitants along the way; but more of that later. The first challenge was to get myself safely around Rattray Head, the corner as it were. This is a place of shallow water which throws up lumpy waves as the tide surges to run from North Sea to Moray Firth and back twice a day. The best time to approach this is at slack water, just as the tide is changing from ebb to flow. The size of the waves is also affected by the wind, either going with the tide or against the tide. So with all this to consider I spent the evening before pawing over tide tables, almanacs and pilot guides to ensure I was in the right place at the right time. I worked out that if I rose at seven, set off by eight then I should arrive four miles East of Rattray Head at 10.00, perfect for a 10.06 tidal prediction. With these calculations complete I turned in for the night.

At four o’clock next morning I was wide awake after a fitful sleep unable to return to my slumber I checked and rechecked my tidal calculations; yes all seem correct. So an early breakfast and off I set into a windless sea with the engine gently purring away under my feet.

The exit from Peterhead Harbour

The sea was so calm that I decided to cut in towards the Head and pass it about a mile off rather than four. The timing was perfect and the crossing totally benign. It was such an anti-climax after all the night tortures that had held me the night before.

Rattray Head Light

Just to raise my sense of awareness I spotted this sorry sight run up the beach near Fraserburgh. It just goes to show that even the proffessionals can get it wrong sometimes.

What I haven't told you so far is this turned out to be an almost windless day, so I spent the majority of it with the engine puring away benath my feet. Almost a full eight hours of running smoothly. It looks like filtering the fuel in Stonehaven has cured the problem I had during that night. Wahoo!

Just a few miles before I arrived at Banff the wind returned, bang on the nose and a heavy downpour gave me a bath. So I carried on under engine to my goal.

"What is the best thing to do with an Arbroath Haircut?"
(Answer at the bottom of the page)

Thanks once again to all you givers out there. The charities have now recieved over £1300 plus will receive an aditional £500 to Alzheimer Scotland from my employer in matched giving.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family
( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Answer "Keep it under yer hat" :-)

Stonehaven to Peterhead

2011-06-15T23:33:00.001+01:00

After the last posting here I spent an idle day recovering while double filtering the fuel out of and back into the petrol tank while waiting for there to be a little less North or East in the weather forecast. There was some really nasty gunk came out of the tank so in future I will always filter the fuel as I fill the tank. It is surprising what muck we must be filling our cars with these days.

Listening to the shipping forecast was the news I yearned for, the weather for tomorrow the 7^thwould have more East in it and it was forecast to go South East or South West during the day. All sounded good for aiding my passage North East towards Peterhead, 35 miles distant up the coast.

As soon as I got out into the bay at Stonehaven I realised that this was going to be another long day. The sea was quite choppy with the wind slightly North of East, pah, the forecasters had it wrong again. Still I could make progress as long as the wind did not go any further North, it was forecast to go SE or SW soon.

Note the new salt stained 'up the nose' video technique.

I wonder if the BBC will take this on?

The waves were at times worse than featured here,

I just didn't feel like videoing them at the time :-)

After 10 miles I saw the lighthouse off of Aberdeen, when I say I saw the lighthouse, I actually caught glimpses of it as it kept bobbing in an out of view as I rose and fell off of waves and into the holes between them. This was probably the roughest sea I have been out in Ruach and she performed excellently, looking after me in these challenging conditions (Thanks to Roger Dongray her designer and Cornish Crabbers her builders). I’m pleased to say I felt very safe wedged into the corner of the cockpit.

After passing Aberdeen there were another 25 miles of being soaked with spray and rain, the visibility dropped to a point that all I could see around me was my little patch of sea with the rain robbing me of any sight of the land about a mile and a bit to my left (port). The wind never did go South for me, so after spending the day on one tack, fighting a heavy helm I eventually headed into Peterhead harbour, then Peterhead marina where the assistant harbourmaster was waiting to take my lines on the pontoon. A very welcome sight as it had been a long day and I was very wet and tired. After tying up I headed for the shower block to get a little warmer and dryer by standing under the shower (think about it, it had been a very wet day), I realised that the whole shower block was swaying, or was that just me?

I cooked up, (well heated up) a tasty mushroom stroganoff from my supplies of Look what we found dishes before heading off for a well earned sleep.

The next day was earmarked to be a laundry day. Apparently the laundry equipment was purchased by the marina but is situated in a campsite. Now if I could walk on water this would have been a 200m stroll, however by pontoon and land this was about a mile away across the bay. So I set off with laundry bag in hand for the campsite. I had been told that if no one was available in the office to go to the green caravan where the manager resided. I arrived at the camp office to see a note in the window 'Manager off site, for attention see caravan nine or fourteen'. So off I strolled, bag in hand, to caravan number nine. Knock knock - No response. Then off to number fourteen knockerty knock knock - still no response. Tried the managers caravan - nothing. I loitered around for about an hour basking in the warm sunshine before heading back to the boat, still bag of dirty laundry in hand. Oh well, another day.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Arbroath to Stonehaven

2011-06-11T21:42:00.004+01:00

Following an airless Friday of baking sunshine and not even a zepher of wind my guest for the next couple of days arrived. Steve is an ancient mariner of my acquaintance who has more sea miles under his belt than Jack Sparrow himself. He and Gerry his chauffeur came aboard to look over my tiny craft, they found it acceptable so we retired to the Cafe Kashmir, a fine quayside Indian resturant. But much to my guests chagrin the house was found to be a dry house. (This was not pre-planned guys, honest). A hearty meal was consumed by all before Gerry left for the drive back to Edinburgh.

Ruach sitting pretty in Arbroath harbour with the excellent Cafe kashmir in the background

The followng morning we woke all bright tailed and bushy eyed in good time for the opening of the harbour gates to let us proceed on with our trip North, 07.15 came and went, the gates remained closed. It was only supposed to be a short opening, from the time the staff came on duty to the time the tide had fallen to the point where they need to close the gates to keep a depth of water in the inner harbour. But on this occasion the high pressure weather system had depressed the tide to a point where we had already missed the critical depth at the gate, so the gates were to remain shut until the tide had risen sufficiently on the next tide about 7hrs later. So we spent a little time refining the boat systems before heading off for my first proper seaside fish & chips of the cruise. Now here's a thing; In Scotland fish & chips are referred to as 'a fish supper'. How come a fish supper? I don't know, but it seems very strange asking for a fish supper at lunchtime. I wonder if you just want a bag of chips do you ask for 'a supper' on it's own?

Following lunch we spent a little time in the recently refurbished signal tower museum learning more information about Bell Rock Light. We finaly set sail around 14.45 heading North East along the coast into a light wind from, you guessed it, the North East. Which means we had to sail along way back and forth (Tacking) to make any progress towards our goal. As dusk fell we were off Montrose, but decided we would press on as Montrose is quite commercial and not particularly yacht friendly. We turned on the engine and motored towards Johnshaven. We were just two miles off when the engine coughed, spluttered and died. At first I thought we had just run out of petrol, but in fact we had some dirt in the fuel. Johnshaven and the next harbour Gourdon both have rocky entrances so are not the places to approach in darkness with a dodgy engine, so on we sailed on doing two hour shifts in rain showers up the coast. At about 11am the following morning we were off the entrance to Stonehaven with the decision to make of do we press on another 35miles to Peterhead, or do we call it a day and head into harbour. With the slow progress we had made and the prospect that the weather was unlikley to improve we gave up the battle and headed into port.

Steve catching a few ZzzzZZzzz following our night of two tacks forward and one tack back up the Aberdeenshire coast

Following lunch Steve took this opportunity to jump ship because Stonehaven has an railway station within easy reach for heading back to the bright lights of Edinburgh. I'm very grateful for the company Steve brought to my journey. It's great having someone with you to discuss the merits of various tactics and strategies and most of all to share tasteless jokes with.

Stonehaven has a very quaint harbourside waterfront with many b&b and what looked like a few nice pubs and restaurants, but it also has what appears to be a harder town beyond.

Jim, the harbourmaster is a very knowledgable man who also seems to fill in as the local tourist information. He also is a sailor with a rather nice solid 12 ton Hillyard that I wouldn't have minded trying my hand at.

I must apologise for this posting being so late but finding a stable internet connection is proving quite a challenge. To find out where I actually am at any time it is best to go to the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk and click on the 'where am I' tab.

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

Elie to Arbroath

2011-06-08T15:00:00.003+01:00

First a few pictures from before I set off.

You can't tell it from these pictures but it was blowing a right hoolie at the time. These pictures must have been taken between the gusts.

I'm the one with the Orange top, Ruach is the one in cream.

Just like hospital visiting, 'don't let Matron catch you with more than two visitors per boat'.

This is 'you'll never get me on a boat' Kirsteen

More members from the Church outing

I feel very privileged to be able to take this trip. It has been a dream of mine for many years to take a small boat around Scotland, not just as a sprint, calling at a few 'highlight' places, but to have the luxury of having time to stop and 'smell the flowers' every once in a while. For those of you who sail you will know what I mean, you go sailing for a week or maybe two, but almost from day one you are planning strategically where you need to be to be back at base for the end of the charter or back to your home port. Now imagine that same trip, but not having to sail to windward when the weather didn't want to play fair. Well that is the journey that I am on.

A big thanks must go to Lloyds Banking Group, my employer, for allowing me to take this time out, I realise not everyone gets the opportunity to take this sort of extended leave. A big thanks must also go to all you 'givers' out there, the two charities involved are very grateful for the money you have donated so far via my little project. But my biggest thanks must go to my lovely wife Penny who has not only let me 'escape' for the summer, but has actively encouraged me throughout the preparation of this project. To Penny I dedicate this paraphrase of the traditional sea song 'Leaving of Liverpool'

"So fare you well my own true love, when I return united we will be.

It's not the leaving of Livingston that grieves me, but my darling when I think of thee".

(Now imagine that being sung and played badly on a Ukelele) :-)

Elie to Arbroath.

Ruach takes the ground beside Elie harbour wall

Had an early start from Elie, but slightly over slept, so was near the bottom of the tide before I departed and I really didn't want to be stuck on the beach for a second sandcastle here in Elie. The weather was again pleasant as I feasted on porridge oats in the morning light. With a wind Coming mainly from the West meant that with just the staysail and main I was able to make good progress along the Fife coast. St. Monans, Pittenweem, Anstruther and Crail flashed by accompanied by a number of small boats attending their pots. A couple of pleasure yachts came out of Anstruther to join me on my trip round Fife Ness, the most Easterly point of Fife, and my turning point North; one of the first major milestones on my trip.

On turning North we were going too fast so I had to fight to slow my progress as we were, at this rate, going to arrive at Arbroath before the tide would allow me to enter the inner harbour. Ruach was loving this beam reach and it was a shame to pull back on her leash, but it had to me done. I 'hove to' for some lunch off the entrance to the River Tay for about half an hour to let the tide catch up, then on to Arbroath in baking summer heat.

Todays Factoid

Bell rock lighthouse which stands sentinel on Inchcape Rock, or 'bell rock' some 10 mile offshore was on my horizon for much of today. It celebrated 200 years of watching over shipping early 2011. You may know of this rock from the famous poem 'the inchcape-rock'. It is also a fine tribute to the lighthouse Stevensons and the Northern Light Board. Build all that time ago with interlocking stonework. Such was it's elegant construction that it still survives to this day.

My mate Steve was due to meet me the following day in Arbroath so I had another effort at rearranging the boat to make room for him, I still failed, but was able to squeeze him in later.

I spent the next day Friday, catching up on shakedown tasks. I fitted a roller furling gear to the jib to make stowing the sail a moments task rather than a momentous challenge on a bucking foredeck. I also went for a hair cut at a barbers near the fishing boat harbour. How come with these places they ask you what style you would like, but then give you the 'house' style? So I now support a high fashion haircut among the fishermen of Arbroath.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

We're off!

2011-06-02T17:09:00.002+01:00

First an apology to everyone who wanted to see me depart. Initially the weekend weather put paid to the original start. It was so windy I couldn't even risk raising the mast. Seeing that I was not at Church Sunday, the congregation came to see me and we all went off for a fish & chip lunch in South Queensferry between the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road bridge overlooking the Forth.
....but back to the apology, when the weather improved the original intention was to have a short shakedown cruise in the Forth before actually heading off. However the wind and the weather were so fantastic on Tuesday that the shakedown cruise actually started the cruise for real. The weather was really too good to miss. It all came round rather quickly.

So, we're off with a force 3/4, occasionally 5 wind straight up my exhaust pipe (Ooh Matron!). The sail was amazing on an almost flat calm sea. Being as this was part of the shakedown cruise things were a bit rusty, (mostly the skipper). Who forgot to tie stopper knots in the jib sheets? Who only remembered just as they disappeared up to the bows as I grasped hold of thin air? Doh!
Oh well, I practised going hove to with staysail and main while I retrieved the erant ropes from dancing a hornpipe off the end of the bowsprit, btw, the bowsprit is the wooden pointy bit at the front of the boat. You'll pick up these nautical terms as we go along, pay attention as I will test you later.

I arrived at Elie to find that last weeks storms had stolen the three visitors deep water mooring bouys from in front of the harbour pier, so I decided to ghost into the harbour on the last of the tide. With my shallow draft I thought I'd just manage to sneak in before the harbour turned back to being a beach with a wall. Think again, as I shuddered to a halt just outside! Oh well, the Cornish Crabber is just ideal for running onto a beach for a picnic, or to scrub the bottom (the boats, not mine). The retired harbour master walked down the beach to make sure I was okay. Such a nice chap. He offered me a vacant fishing boat berth once the tide had returned a little. As the tide started to return I hauled myself out into deeper water to await the depth to increase in the harbour. Then I thought 'I could just stay anchored here where the visitors buoys should be'. That was fine until at 3am when I awoke feeling a tad queasy (Mal-de-mer). So raised the anchor and moored where earlier I had been offered in the harbour. Still a bit bumpy from the swell, but good enough. Elie seems to be a nice picture postcard place to visit.
Slept late Wednesday due to the previous nights escapade so missed the tide. Decided to stay put and try to find better places to stow 'things'. the boat is absolutly full you understand, but it is mostly food, so can't complain. I have a mate from work coming to crew for a few days so need to find some room to stow him.

This internet connection is a bit poor here (but better than non) so I'll try to upload a few photos and today's log later.

Fantastic news on the giving front. Alzheimer Scotland are now eligble for the full £500 of matched giving due to your generosity. So we now stand at over £1500 raised between the two charities. On top of that I have another £100 pledged when I receive the cheque.
Let's see if we can even it out and give £1000 to both of the charities. It's up to you!

If anyone out there is having trouble donating at the justgiving sites (behind company firewalls, don't trust the internet with my card details or just don't want to give that way, etc) you can mail me a cheque direct. To do this just send me an email and I'll send you the details.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

I've got a wet bottom!

2011-05-26T22:21:00.000+01:00

.....Well Ruach has anyway. Over lunchtime yesterday Ruach was carefully lowered into the Forth by the team at Port Edgar Marina.
See the compilation video below of her leaving a very blustery Livingston Saturday morning, then flying through the air Wednesday in much calmer conditions. I really hope that mother nature is getting all these high winds out of her hair before I start my journey (but looking at the long range weather forecast somehow I don't think so).

From the storms I was amazed by the amount of debris that had accumulated in every nook and cranny of the cockpit in such a short time; from being relatively clean on Saturday to having enough organic matter to start growing potatoes on Wednesday. So first priority once afloat was to give her a good wash and brush up. Next, while I was tinkering away in the engine compartment I looked up to see four men looking back at me from the pontoon. I wondered what I had done wrong. but it turned out that they were the crew of a nearby boat who were just admiring Ruach. They were very complimentary about the look and lines of my fine vessel.

Only a couple of days now before I set off on my journey. I'll publish the actual day and time here once the preparations are complete, but at this time it is intended that I will set off during this bank holiday weekend. I'll probably spend a couple of days sailing around the Forth as a shakedown cruise before striking North. So if you see a tan sailed, gaff rigged Crabber pottering about in the Forth give me a wave

Please watch this blog for final departure updates.

Great news on the giving front. As I type this update we are just £3.34 short of the £500 matched giving target on the Scottish justgiving site.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Stormy Weather!

2011-05-23T14:03:00.001+01:00

Just a quick update

Delays, delays, delays. I think this audio clip sums up the preparations of late.
Then along with having the weather to contend with I have foolishly damaged a toe which subsequently got infected. So following a trip to the Doc. I have a dose of horse strength pills to try and get me sorted before I set off.

Still; this clip of Morecambe & Wise cheers me up. (Sorry for you guys behind the corporate firewall which block this kind of thing)

......I'm now hoping for a little more classic Morecambe and Wise, (All together now, sing along) "Bring Me Sunshine".
(Audio clips courtesy of Amazon. You can buy the full copies of the track from them)

Here's a snapshot of Ruach on my drive looking smart with the charity graphics applied.

Ruach relocated to Port Edgar on Saturday. The trip was mostly uneventful apart from one heart stopping moment when the gusty wind induced a snake in the trailer. Many thanks to our good friends Nicola & Derryk for delivering Ruach for me.

I originally had a slot booked to get Ruach craned into the water today, but the gales put paid to that. I have a new slot booked for during my lunch break tomorrow. However the forecast is still very iffy so this may not happen. Oh the joys of boat owning in Scotland!

Again a big THANKS to all you 'givers' out there. The charities, via the justgiving sites, have now received over £800 in donations from your giving. Plus as it stands there will be another £400 given direct to Alzheimer Scotland from my employer in their matched giving initiative. If we can raise another £100 on the Alzheimer Scotland just giving site they will benefit from the full additional £500 of matched giving.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

T-minus 10 to blast off!

2011-05-19T00:14:00.004+01:00

It's now just 10 short days until I cast off, weather permitting. But there is still much to do before the commencement of this adventure. Steady progress is being made assembling all the various bits of Ruach that were spread around the British Isles. I've introduced the GPS to the VHF radio and they are now in conversation and getting along famously (for which I breath a sigh of relief).
As planned the heads did get refurbished this past week, so another important milestone also gets crossed off the list. (At this time I can only hope that the operation has been a success as I am unable to fully test them on my house drive). Only time will tell!!!
Ruach is now resplendent with "Charity Sail for Alzheimer's" & "www.eventoftheyear.co.uk" graphics kindly supplied by the team at Anglia Graphic Signs to whom I am very grateful.

Ruach will shortly move from our home to Port Edgar Marina for a few days prior to setting off. Thanks go to Adam Cruttenden and the team for their assistance and generosity.

You may remember from previous posts my question on favourite recipes. Well Penny came home from Sainsburys brandishing a Chilli con Carne in a plastic pouch for me to try. The idea being that you can heat it either 'boil in the bag' style, or in a saucepan (or a microwave for those with posh yachts). Well I have to tell you that my expectation of this bag was low, mainly because I've tried instant 'packet meals' before. I find they tend to be either very bland or very salty. But I was amazed, paired with some rice this made a really tasty dish. I was so impressed I got in touch with the company, it seems they have a whole range of this type of meal. The company has the bizarre but apt name of Look what we found. As an added bonus to me when they heard what I was up on my trip they offered me a healthy discount on their products, so I have purchased quite a selection which I look forward to trying. So my thanks also goes to Lauren and the team at Look what we found. I'll let you know what the other dishes are like as the trip progresses.

I'm still open to ideas for meals and snacks, so email me or leave a comment at the foot of this blog with your favourite ideas.

Sorry for the lack of pictures this post, it's been a combination I've been too busy with preparations and again the weather not playing ball, (and I'm sure you don't want to see another picture of the loo) .

A big THANKS to all you 'givers' out there. The charities, via the justgiving sites, have now received over £700 in donations from your giving.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

Catch you next time.

Regards,

David H.

Hey Dad, I'm nearly famous!

2011-05-07T21:04:00.003+01:00

..... Well the trip is anyway, it made it into the Cornish Crabbers website and newsletter last week - click here for more info . Who knows, maybe it will be on the 'One Show' next if they pick up this story.

It is starting to come together. The work on the hull has been completed and Ruach been transported across from the West Coast to Livingston. Because the repairs took longer than anticipated (Don't they always), I've brought Ruach to my home so that every minute available can be spent on preparation rather than wasted on time spent travelling to and from the boat.

The replacement berth cushions are completed. The thirty three year'ish old originals were found to be so disgusting when I opened up the mouldy damp mess that I could not even use them as templates for the replacements for fear of contaminating the replacement foam with mould spores. So I spent a satisfyingly happy hour or so sculpting the blue dense foam with a bread knife to fit the profile of the boat; I have to admit that I chickened out of making the cushion covers. We knew we were running out of time so called in the professionals, it was money well spent I say as the cushions are to be my seat and bed for the next three months. I used Newlook Upholstery Services in Cardenden, Fife.

The next job on my list, in nautical terms, is to tackle the heads. That sounds so much better than saying I need refurbish the loo. I have the spares kit, I have the tools, I just need to find the resolve to do it. It's one of those jobs that is oh so easy put off, but is definitely be worth getting done before I set sail. (Three months with crossed legs isn't really an option).

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

To date, between both of the charity websites, you have donated over £500. I am so grateful to you for this, you know who you are. Every donation, large or small, makes a difference.On behalf of the charities I thank you.

Please share this site with your friends and family

( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

I'm in pieces, bits and pieces

2011-04-21T22:57:00.010+01:00

I've posted a picture of Ruach below, not one of the best pictures I know, but it's posted here as a reminder to me of what Ruach should look like as she is currently scattered to the four points of the compass. The hull is under repair across in Fairlie on the West coast where the famous prolific boatbuilder William Fife plied his trade; the rigging is being refurbished down in Rock with the boatbuilder Cornish Crabbers; the boom, gaff and bowsprit are in my garage just about ready for their final coat of varnish and the berth cushions are about to go to an upholsterer across the Firth of Forth in Fife (Try saying that three times fast).
I have great faith that all these items will soon be reunited in one location.

The picture was taken in Rothesay harbour on the Isle of Bute during the June 2010 National Shrimper Week where thirty'odd Cornish Shrimpers and two Crabbers met together and enjoyed a spell of idyllic Mediterranean weather cruising around the Clyde. (Yes REALLY, it was that HOT!)

You may notice that I've added an additional justgiving site on to the main website pointing to a Scottish Alzheimer charity. The reason I have added this is that my employer will match your giving up to a maximum of £500 for a charity in the same locality as my work base. This means if you donate £20 to the Scottish giving site they will match that donation with another £20 so boosting the value of your donation.

I've had a few comments on the question posed last post about meal suggestions. As a reminder I asked for "things that are easy to store, quick to prepare and can be cooked on just two burners. No grill or oven". Someone reminded me of Charles Stock and his pocket cruiser Shoal Waters who used to place a tinned steak-and-kidney pudding in his kettle to cook while underway. Another recommendation was for a Fray Bentos chicken pie cooked under an up-turned pan on a single burner, spotted on Dylan Winter's site KTL. KTL really is an interesting site, full of spectacular video footage of his trip so far. For just a few $ subscription you can watch all the video in best quality. I'm sure you won't be disappointed (If you do subscribe tell Dylan I sent ya).
Please keep the ideas coming using the comments link below or by email.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.
Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the main website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's charities.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's charities through either www.justgiving.com/david-hippey-scotland or www.justgiving.com/david-hippey

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

"Holy Decks Batman!"

2011-04-08T22:39:00.005+01:00

The repair work is coming on a pace. Thankfully the extent of the rot is not as bad as it could have been (I had feared the worst), so not so bad for a thirty something year old boat. As you can see below there is currently a hole in the deck above the galley of just under 2' x 4' with nicely scarphed edges awaiting the patching pieces to be fitted. John & Hugh are doing a great job with this crucial work.

This week I had a very exiting call from Peter Thomas, MD of Cornish Crabbers LLP, offering the help of Cornish Crabbers in a practical sense in helping prepare the boat for the trip and also helping the spread the word about the trip and it's goals.
I really appreciate the way people are getting behind this project. I'm already in receipt of emails of encouragement from people around the world. From my perspective it is great to be able to benefit the charity while fulfilling one of my own life goals. So thanks to you all who have given to the charity so far. Please continue to support this very worthy cause.

Now, I need some feedback from you guys. I'm looking for meal suggestions that are easy to store, quick to prepare and can be cooked on just two burners. No grill or oven. One of my favourites for a quick nourishing meal is chunky chicken in a white wine sauce served with rice and sweet corn. But I am open to ideas. what do you guys suggest? Drop me a mail or leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.

Finally this time I must mention my thanks to Hannah Brinklow, I'm grateful to her for championing my cause with her manager. Cheers Hannah.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to receive an email of when blog updates appear. Please share this site with your friends and family.

If you came to this blog from the website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society.
As a reminder, I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's Society through the 'Charity' link on the website or by going direct to: http://www.justgiving.com/david-hippey/

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

The fit-out continues

2011-03-27T04:15:00.004+01:00

While the boat is in the shed having some deck repairs carried out I am getting on with other items of the fit-out. You should have seen my little MG driving down the M8 with the bowsprit, gaff and boom all sticking out of the unzipped back window, I'm sure it looked like some kind of dodgem car. They are all now in my garage awaiting a coat or three of varnish.
Saturday I purchased some lovely Goldspar yacht varnish and a new zinc anode and fitting kit for the hull. A big thanks to the guys at the Bosun's Locker at Port Edgar for their generosity.

To accompany me on the journey I was thinking about taking my guitar in it's protective hard case to entertain myself as I venture out in the wilds, but it does take up an awful lot of room on a small yacht like mine and the damp salty air would not really be best for that fine instrument. Then I remembered a conversation with one of my good friends, musician Phil Baggaley, around Christmas time last year, I remember him mentioning about having a Ukulele and playing it just like a four stringed guitar. So following a short hunt around the t'internet I found a cheapish one with a hard case. I thought it would be nice and easy just tuning the four strings to the same tuning as the top four string of a guitar, then my vast array of (four'ish) chords would be an easy transition from guitar to Uke, using the same fingering and all that. Easy peasy!
NOT. After fighting the Uke, new strings going out of tune within seconds of being tuned, and still sounding rubbish, with me thinking ' well, it was really cheap'. I decided to have a go at tuning it to standard Ukulele tuning and, boy! The instrument was transformed! Now all I have to do is re-learn all my chords!!!
The good news is that after about a week the strings are settling down to stay in tune for about the duration of a song or two and I have just about enough chord shapes to match Status Quo.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.
Please share this site with your friends and family ( Especially the rich ones :-) )

If you came to this blog from the website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's Society through the 'Charity' link on the website or by going direct to: http://www.justgiving.com/david-hippey/

Catch you next time.

Regards,
David H.

On dry land at last

2011-03-24T23:36:00.009Z

The Scottish weather finally relented, Ruach came out of the water on Monday to have some essential maintenance work done before the trip commences.
Even this task was not without it's challenges. I had taken a days leave from work to sail Ruach over to Fairlie Marine to be hauled out the water. Unfortunately the boat hoist had failed, needing a replacement part. So it looked like a precious days holiday was going to be wasted, but then we formulated a plan B! This was to see if those nice guys at Largs Marina could squeeze me into their busy early season schedule. Thankfully they agreed and Ruach was hoisted out of the briny, then pressure washed to remove the marine flora and forna, before being placed skilfully on to her trailer to await the haul by road to Fairlie.
The final task before her 'road trip' was to lower the mast and remove the bowsprit. This is the first time I have performed this task on a Cornish Crabber and more to the point the first time I have done this single handed. So with a bit if thought, a few old timers trick, the right weather and a dose of ignorance the mast came down easily and the bowsprit was dismounted.

As I write this blog I notice that it is now only 65 days to the commencement of the journey. Where is the time going to? I so hope time starts to slow to a more leisurely pace once I step off the everyday treadmill of life.

If you came to this blog from the website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's Society through the 'Charity' link on the webpage www.eventoftheyear.co.uk or by going direct to the website http://www.justgiving.com/david-hippey/
Thanks for your support.

If you want to be emailed when this blog is updated drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk

Catch you next time.

David H.

Around the world in 80 days

2011-03-09T00:16:00.002Z

Looking at the 'time to start of cruise' widget on the website I see it is now just 80 days until the start of the cruise. Just enough time to make it around the world then! Well that was enough time for Jules Verne's character Phileas Fog in his classic novel "Around the world on 80 days".
Still seems to be a bit short when I'm preparing for this trip while still holding down the day job as well. Never mind, press on.

As I write this blog Ruach remains afloat, the Scottish weather has thwarted attempts to get her lifted out of the water. It's currently blowing a force 6 with gusts of force 8/9, then just to top it off it is threatening to snow too. So it looks like it will be Monday or Tuesday next week before we get the right weather for the lift. Watch this space.

Special thanks to the people who have donated to the Alzheimer's Society so far on the back of this trip. The just giving site has only been up for less than a week now and you have already given over £100 (plus the amount reclaimable through gift aid). You people are so generous.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when updates appear. I've also added some widgets below this blog to help you share this site with your friends and family.

If you came to this blog from the website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's Society through the 'Charity' link on the website or by going direct to: http://www.justgiving.com/david-hippey/
Thanks for your support and words of encouragement.

Catch you next time.

David H.

Welcome to the blog

2011-02-28T23:57:00.002Z

Hi all,

Welcome to the blog of my trip around Scotland in an old 24' Cornish Crabber Mk1.

Why call this blog 'David goes over the top'? I hear you ask. Well I could take the short route between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde, about 70'ish miles across the Forth and Clyde Canal, but this tale is about a longer trip over the top of Scotland, this will be more like 750'ish miles of some of the most challenging waters around the UK coast. At times I'll be nearer to the Arctic circle than to London.

The good ship Ruach is due to come out of the water early March 2011 to have some deck repairs carried out before the start of the trip. Hopefully this won't take too long (or be too expensive!). I'll let you know how things proceed. Following having the deck work done I have some fitting out work to do myself on Ruach before commencing the voyage at the end of May.

Don't forget to drop me a note at onpassage@dhippey.co.uk to sign up to be informed when blog updates appear.

If you came to this blog from the website www.eventoftheyear.co.uk you will hopefully have had a look around the site and be aware of what I'm up to, both the adventure itself and the fact that I'm aiming to raise awareness of dementia in our society and to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society.
I'm doing this trip for fun and funding the trip myself, but while I'm on this venture you can do your bit to by supporting the Alzheimer's Society through the 'Charity' link on the webpage www.eventoftheyear.co.uk or by going direct to the website http://www.justgiving.com/david-hippey/
Thanks for your support.

Catch you next time.

David H.