Boating & Biking Adventures

Author: Bernd Page 36 of 130

Belfast => Bangor

Days in Belfast were flying by and my focus remained on recovery to leave this nasty cold behind me, once and forever! The pharmacist the other day recommended with a smoky, rough voice and smiling face: warm whiskey!

Disintegrated luff extrusion profile.

Feeling better now and pumped up to hit the ocean again, I left Belfast in the evening hours, ETA Douglas next day 11am, 1 hour before hight tide, 80nm, weather window & tides perfectly arrange. All good until I unfurled the headsail and observed something strange at the top of the forestay.

Picture taken, shared and minutes later, after a very helpful discussion over a phone call with sailing mate Volker from SY Hexe, I concluded: not going to proceed under these conditions, need to be fixed first. Douglas can wait.

Bangor, the sailing mekka of Nothern Ireland and accredited with five golden anchors, was just 4nm ahead.

I informed Jan & Natascha from SY Auryn that they will have to proceed without our accompany.

Looking forward to understand the root cause of this issue.

Fair winds…

 

Clyde => North Channel

It was an interesting passage from Scotland to Northern Ireland. Starting with no wind and flat seas, it peaked up to 26kn gusts and 2m waves while it ended with a pleasant close hauled approach along the channel leading into Belfast. Plenty of dolphins and two young puffins were the highlights.

Fair winds… 

Clyde Marina

We have reached our final marina in Scotland for this year. The emphasis lies on this year as Susan and myself decided to return. There is much more to explore within these magnificent sailing grounds. However, for the winter we prefer some lower latitudes.

Fair winds…

Passing through the storm gate. It’s tight.

Kip Marina

We got Oscar from Argull Yacht Rigger Ltd. up into the mast today (Sunday!) to perform a rig inspection and tuning. My focus was on tuning as I was not happy the way the rigging behaved under certain sailing conditions.

In a very analytical way the tensioning of each wire was adjusted to required values in an iterative approach until load contributions are balanced and matching with manufacturers specification. Great job!

I wish I had received such a service level in Kappeln before leaving four months ago.

We are all set now to proceed our journey.

Fair winds…

Tarbert Harbour

Leaving the Sea Lock in Ardrishaig a bit late we had to be dropped almost 5m to get back into freedom. The last bits of outgoing tide supported us during the short journey on Lower Loch Fyne into Tarbert, a place long time on my list. It presents itself as a lively marina, fishing harbour and charming village.

As Susan and myself are both still fighting with a persistent cold our activity level remains low. The weather is improving though.

Fair winds…

Crinan Canal

Coming from Oban we sailed south and passed a few more narrows with moderate tide rips. Our tidal calculation worked out and swiftly we entered the Crinan Sea Lock.

Crinan Canal is a short but intensive 9nm stretch (15 locks & 7 bridges), which connects Agrul and Bute with the Clyde area, in other words, Glasgow with Western Hebrides. It is a masterpiece of engineering more than 220 years ago, nicely embedded into unspoiled landscape. Not cheap but no doubt: pretty unique!

Fair winds…

Susan highly confident on the blowline.

Oban 2024

Tides again…

Our days on the Caledonian Canal are coming to an end at Corpach Sea Lock, the final lock back into the tides. The week was characterized by cloudy weather topped by Captain and Crew catching a nasty flu. Glad the weather has started to improve for us to enjoy a bit more of beautiful Scotland.

Fair winds…

Dochgarroch Lock

Our 2nd overnight stop after 5nm from Inverness is at Dochgarroch Lock. There are some stronger winds gusting up to 35kn from SW expected, which we want to pass through before proceeding onto Loch Ness.

Fair winds…

Wick => Inverness

We spent 24 hours in Wick and got an impression of this old seaside city. The glory Hering days have passed for long and we decided to take an overnight weather window towards Inverness. The ride along the shoreline offered some good light show. The approach into the Moray Firth was awaiting us.

We were spot on with our timing but the tidal & current data provided by Navionics need a bit more accuracy to maximize its benefit. It kicked in a bit later than forecasted but finally it was a 5kn current grabbing The Lady and pushing her through Kessock Bridge accompanied by some swirling waters.

The lock keeper at Clachnaharry Sea Lock was awaiting us for a straight run into sweet water at 8:30am. It‘s less than 12 month ago when we left this lock in opposite direction on our return from the Caribbean and the North Atlantic.

Fair winds…

Page 36 of 130

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