Norway at Last!!

Tues 15th and Wed 16th June 2010

Lerwick was going to be getting very busy in the next couple of days so we thought it was time to head towards Norway.  The Round Britain and Ireland Race boats were due to start arriving late Wed / early Thurs and there was also the Bergen to Shetland Race due in towards the end of the week, over 100 boats expected so it would have been chaos in the harbour as well as a marquee and parties on the dockside – time to be somewhere else!!!  This was all in addition to any cruise ships due into Lerwick to make even more madness.

We headed off on Tuesday to the Out Skerries, a small group of islands about 20 miles NE of Lerwick with a tricky little entrance.  About 80 people live there and the few we met were typically friendly and interesting.  It was an early night ready for an early start to Bergen.

Up at 0330 and leave the Out Skerries at 0400 with 170 miles to cover to get to Norway.  Forecast was for about 15knts SW or W winds that would have been ideal to push us across the North Sea – surprisingly the forecast was not quite right, the wind direction was OK but we had less than 10knts for most of the crossing only occasionally did it get anywhere near 15knts.  So we motored or motor sailed all the way across on near calm seas, a long 27 hrs later we dropped the anchor in a little cove just through the offshore Islands about 10miles North of Bergen.  A quick shower and crawl into bed for some much needed sleep, so we didn’t see much of Thursday!!!

The Entrance to the Out Skerries	A Delightful Norwegian Anchorage

Friday 18th and Saturday 19th June 2010

Friday we awoke to a choppy anchorage with 20knts plus from the NW and rising, up with the anchor and headed for an almost land locked bay marked as an anchorage on the chart.  It was only an hour away and when we got there it seemed ideal after the wind had picked up to over 30knts by the time we got there.  It was well sheltered and almost completely enclosed with only a couple of weekend chalets in sight, the only downside was the depth meant we needed all our anchor chain out to get the anchor set.  After a recce ashore we decided to use some shore lines and our stern anchor to get us nice and securely tucked in with the best shelter from the wind.  Once we had got everything properly set up it was ideal – a good job because the wind didn’t let up for 2 days with the Coastguard giving Gale Warnings of F8 and F9 for our area.  If anyone wants to have a look on Google Earth the position is 060Deg 29.40min N, 005Deg 03.9min E.

Sunday 20th and Monday 21st June 2010

The wind had finally started to ease off a bit so we thought we should head to Hjellstad were we are due to meet Sue’s sister Caroline and hubby Rich on Tuesday.  Our little anchorage was very deceptive because the wind was still in the high 20’s once we got out into more exposed waters – good job it was behind us!!  At least we managed to sail all the way to our destination, the wind meant we only needed the jib to keep us moving at 6knts.  The wind did drop off a bit as we headed South and it was a nice sail down the Fjordd close to Bergen, lots of very nice houses overlooking the water and lots of traffic to keep us on our toes as well.  All tied up nice and safe in Hjellstad Marina after a four hour trip.

Monday was like being back at work with so many jobs to be done to make sure everything is shipshape ready for visitors tomorrow.  Sue’s turn to let you know what’s been happening now!!

Hi everyone

After cutting Chris’s hair I decided to have another go at touching my roots up, so I bought some bleach mix from boots and toothbrush at the ready got going. Looks easy at the hairdressers but believe me it’s not!! I am now definitely blonde but it’s ok as I fit in quite well in Norway!!

It was our longest journey yet to Norway and we managed ok but very tiring. It made the journey though when we saw approx eight Orca Whales going past the boat.

We had a nice couple of days chilling in a little bay and are now in Hjellstad Marina. Very busy day baking, cleaning and general sort out, I haven’t worked so hard in a long time!! My one bah humbug is the marina is full of small power boats and jet skis which all seem to have to get as close to your boat as possible whilst at great speed!! There must be a reason for this but I haven’t decided what it is yet.

Chris caught some mackerel and a crab which he insisted we had for tea so I turned them into fishcakes which turned out to be very nice. It’s amazing what a bit of chilli sauce and mustard can do!!

Really looking  forward to tomorrow, Tuesday, as Caroline and Rich are due to arrive for a weeks holiday. I’m sure there will be much drinking and of course sightseeing done.

60 Degrees North, Lerwick

Thursday 10th June

An early start today as we leave Kinlochbervie and set off towards the Orkneys, a distance of just over 90 miles.  Up at 0600 and on our way just after 0700, unfortunately there was hardly any wind so it was the usual chug, chug of the engine as we headed North to Cape Wrath, the most North westerly point of mainland Scotland.

Cape Wrath – Nice and Calm!!	Piereowall Harbour, Westray, Orkneys

The sea was a bit bumpy today even though there was not enough wind for sailing, it must have been the leftovers from the stronger winds of yesterday.  At times it seemed like it was calming down and then it would get bouncy again!!  Fortunately we did see a small group of dolphins a couple of hours after passing Cape Wrath so that brightened things up a lot. Anyway after nearly 14 hours at sea we pulled into Pierowall Harbour on Westray in the Orkneys, quite a few boats already there so we had to raft alongside the Inter-Island Ferry.  No time for sightseeing because the forecast was for SW or W winds tomorrow, ideal for heading to the Shetlands.

Friday 11th June

Another 0600 alarm call to depart at 0645 so we spent just over 9 hours in the Orkneys – mostly asleep!!!  Only 80 miles to cover today to take us to Lerwick so just under 12 hours at sea – easy peasy.  The forecast was wrong again – the wind was SW but there was hardly any of it so we had to motor all the way again with a couple of hours motor sailing.  the most wind we had was about 12 knts but it was mostly 6-8knts all day and that was just not enough when you have 80 miles to cover.

We got to Lerwick about 1800 to find a lot of boats already rafted together on the visitors pontoon in the Victoria Dock, we had some very worried looking faces watching us as we turned into the dock with everybody hoping we didn’t want to raft alongside their boat. We got ready to raft up third boat out alongside a German boat and were just about to tie onto them when the Harbourmaster called on the radio to say there was room for us alongside the quay in the Albert Dock next door, we think the Germans were just coming down the ramp onto the pontoon looking very unhappy at that point!!!  We went next door and I think everyone must have breathed a sigh of relief, especially the Germans, as we pulled out of the Victoria Dock.

As the title says we are now at Latitude 60 degrees North which is only just over 420 miles from the Arctic Circle, it is also quite a bit further North of the equator than Cape Horn is South of the Equator (56 degrees South).  It means that we currently get over 20hrs of daylight with the other 4hrs being more twilight than dark so it should make our crossing to Norway a bit easier.

MSC Poesnia anchored outside the Harbour	Arctic Tern Shouting to us in Lerwick

Hi all Sue here

We left Kinlochbervie on Thursday and I would just like to say thank you to everyone there for making us welcome. Perhaps if we visit again they will have trained the sheepdog in the pub to chase sheep instead of darts!! Before we left Chris insisted I cut his hair with an electric trimmer he had bought last year. He set it all up and I started trimming very slowly as I hadn’t used one before. After a few minutes he told me to stop messing around and just get on with it, so I did. All I can say is he won’t need another cut for quite some time!! That hat he bought will come in very useful!! I will just walk a few steps behind him until it grows back!!

I think I can say I’ve been to the Orkneys but as we arrived late, went straight to bed and left the next morning, I didn’t actually get to go ashore. I’m sure they are very nice from what I’ve seen.

We are now in Lerwick which is a very busy place to be. Three cruise ships have visited since we arrived and two thousand people got of the one, they were like ants arriving, of different nationalities.

At least we have completed our supply shopping which was quite entertaining on our bikes!! I had a basket on the front and a bag on both handle bars, not very stable at all!! Chris somehow managed a more sedate appearance with just a tray attached to the back of his bike!! I have also had access to the yacht clubs laundry room, bliss!!

We aim to head to the Outer Skerries tomorrow (Tuesday) then onto Norway Wednesday but all dependent on the weather as usual.

Onwards and Upwards

Thursday 3rd June

Finished topping up our supplies in Oban yesterday, an early start today to catch the tide up the Sound of Mull to Tobermory, up at 0600 to leave at 0700 – Sue most impressed with that!!!  Nice gentle conditions and the usual fickle winds but we did manage a pleasant sail most of the way up The Sound with a following wind.  Turned into Tobermory Bay in lovely sunshine to be greeted by the postcard image that most of you have probably seen – it really is very pretty.

Wing and Wing up the Sound of Mull	First Sight of Tobermory

We had a stroll round the village, it is very quaint with not too much there, mainly the usual touristy type shops but we did manage a stop at the pub for some refreshments.  The sun was shining and we were able to have dinner in the cockpit for the first time this trip, temperature up to 24 deg C so a few more drinkies were sampled to celebrate.

Friday 4h June

On our way to Skye today and that means rounding Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly part of mainland Scotland, with a reputation for boisterous seas and nasty conditions – it did it’s best to uphold the tradition!!!  Heading towards the point we had a nice pleasant 15knts of wind from behind, as we rounded the point and headed NE towards the Sound of Sleat the wind picked up to over 30knts and we were doing over 10knts in short order.  Some rapid sail reefing soon had things under control and we were still doing nearly 9knts but in a lot more comfort.  Then after about an hour the wind started to fall off and we soon needed all the sails up to make reasonable progress, but it soon fell off further meaning more motor-sailing.  We stopped for a few hours in Isleornsay to wait for the tide to turn the right way through Kyle Rhea, a narrow passage between Skye and the mainland where the tide can be up to 8knts.  A couple of hours of motoring and we picked up a mooring just a hundred yards from the Skye Bridge – very impressive sight, particularly watching the sunset over the bridge.

Sunset Over the Skye Bridge	The Crowlin Islands on a Misty Morning

Saturday 5th June

Making more ground to the North while the weather holds, hardly any wind today so we are motoring towards The Summer Isles, just off the mainland peninsula north of Ullapool.  Flat seas, light wind, mainly sunny with some sea mist patches just for a bit of variety.  A couple of seals and one porpoise is all the sea life to be seen which is a bit surprising for this area, perhaps they will all come out to play soon.

Arrived in the Summer Isles and anchored in Badentarbat Bay about 1600, almost deserted, the only other boats in sight were working the fish farms.  A few people camping on shore and a few houses scattered about, typical Scottish Highlands scenery and the sun is shining as well – gorgeous!!!!

Sunday 6th June

Another flat calm day as we head off to Kinlochbervie, the wind increased a bit but was the wrong direction for sailing until we got about half way and rounded Stoer Head, we then managed to sail the rest of the way to Kinlochbervie and tied up on the visitors pontoon about 1430.  The pontoon was installed last year at the south end of the harbour because the original pontoon in the NE corner was too small.  Much more room now with electric and water on the pontoons and we were charged only £20.00 for 2 nights incl electric.  Not too much in the village – a Spar shop and hotel for the essentials – but everyone we have met so far has been very friendly and very helpful.

Monday & Tuesday 7th & 8th June

Well the forecast has been predicting NE winds F4-5 occ F6 for our next leg to the Orkneys so we have decided to stay put since this is right on the nose so a 70+ mile slog across the top of Scotland is not very appealing.  Kinlochbervie is only about 12 miles from Cape Wrath, the very NW tip of mainland Scotland, with very few places to shelter between there and the Orkneys so we would like some nice weather for a 12 + hour passage!!!

Well surprisingly the weather forecast has not been as accurate as it might, Mon & Tues we have had very little wind and a couple of boats coming in have said that the weather has been near flat calm off the North Coast so we could have made it to the Orkneys.  The low pressure system has not moved as quickly as first predicted, but the forecasts all now say NE F5-6 for Wed so we will be sitting here a bit longer yet.  It should ease off from Thurs onwards so we hope to head off later in the week.

New Visitors Pontoon, Kinlochbervie	Another Nimrod!!

We have also seen another boat called Nimrod here in Kinlochbervie, she is a 51 year old wooden fishing boat still with her original Gardner engine.  She is being used as a sightseeing / angling charter boat and is owned by Jimmy McDonald who used to be the Harbourmaster here.  She is in really good condition and Jimmy must spend an awful lot of time and money keeping her just so.

Kinlochbervie used to be a major fishing port but this has declined drastically in recent years, there is one trawler landing it’s catch today (tues) and another two due tomorrow and that is it since we arrived.  The locals tell us that a few years ago the harbour would have been full of trawlers almost every day.

Hi all Sue’s version now

We have been sailing round Scotland that quick I can’t remember where we have been on what day so good job Chris keeps blog up to date on regular basis.

Tobermory has got to be my favourite place so far, we even managed some retail therapy there. Chris bought two hats, in one he looks like Laurence of Arabia and the other Scott of the Antarctic!! I just had a nice sensible purple cap. I will try to get pictures for the blog.

We are now sitting it out in Kinlochbervie where everyone is really friendly so it’s not too bad but just want to keep going now. We went out fishing in the dinghy today (Tuesday) but didn’t catch anything, good job there’s local boats willing to sell you a lobster. We visited the local Chandlery yesterday and bought some walking shoes for me and trainers for Chris. We also bought some Avon Skin So Soft which they stock as it is meant to be a great mozzy repellent, I have six bites at present and all on my toes!! That will teach me to where flip flops all the time.

Hopefully our next blog update will have us in the Shetlands awaiting passage to Norway.

Heading North at Last

Friday 28th May

Finally left Ramsey under sunny skies but definitely not very warm – lots of layers needed for our crossing to Portpatrick to combat the chilly Westerly wind.  Headed towards Point of Ayre, the North Eastern end of the Isle of Man and set the sails, not quite enough wind to sail comfortably so one engine helped us on our way.  After a couple of hours the wind had freshened enough and we could sail on a nice beam reach at 9.5knts towards the Mull of Galloway, a bit lumpy round here because of the tide races and overfalls but not as bad as Carmel Head and The Stacks off Anglesey.  The wind dropped off and it went cloudy and chilly – engine back on to keep us moving at a decent pace, Sue decided it was too cold to take 3hrs to do the last 10 miles to Portpatrick under sail alone!!!

Got into Portpatrick at 1600 – an interesting entrance with a strong tide and wind across the entrance making it a bit of  a challenge to stay on the transit line guiding us in, but we got in safely.  The Harbourmaster descended on us before we had even finished tying up, but he only wanted a pretty reasonable £18 harbour fees so not too bad.  Very quiet with only one other visiting boat when we got there, then a 45ft Outremmer Catamaran came in and decided to raft alongside despite having half the harbour to choose from!!!  Fortunately they decided to just unload crew and kit before tying to a mooring in the middle of the harbour.

Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th May

Away from Portpatrick at 1100 heading for Rathlin Island off the NE corner of Ireland, grey skies but flat seas and 14knots of wind from behind us.  Put out both headsails, one each side, called running wing on wing for the non-sailors reading.  Nice easy sailing at 7knts, not in too much of a rush because there is a nasty tide race off Rathlin that we wanted to get there after it had finished.  In the end the wind dropped off to less than 6knts so we had to resort to engine power again.  All tied up in Rathlin Harbour at 1730.

We thought we should try the local hostelries seeing as it was Saturday Night – an interesting experience – the locals we met all seemed to have had a long day in the bar and we were barely able to understand them.  We settled on the Manor House for a meal and it was really nice and a good price too – well recommended for anyone stopping off at Rathlin.

Sunday was a day off because the wind was in the wrong direction.  Had a walk round some of the Island and found a large group of seals sunning themselves on the rocks just 5 mins from the harbour.  A very remote place with lots of wildlife and a huge bird sanctuary at the Western End.

Seals Enjoying the Sunshine	Rathlin Harbour

Sunday afternoon had us watching the RAF helicopter landing to airlift somebody off to hospital – obviously the only way to get casualties off the Island in a hurry!!!

RAF Rescue Landing at Rathlin	Thallassa Under Full Sail Off Islay

Monday 31st May

Away from Rathlin at 0900 towards Carsaig Bay towards the North End of the Sound of Jura.  Seas were a bit bouncy between Rathlin and Islay but soon flattened out.  We started off sailing nicely under sunny skies with 15-20knts of SE wind and we passed the Tall Ship Thallassa off the coast of Islay, a very impressive sight.  As usual the wind started dropping off and it was motor sailing time and then engine only time but the sun was shining with temps up to 21 deg!!  Got to Carsaig Bay at 1700 and anchored but the tide and wind combined meant that the boat would not sit properly to the anchor so we decided to move on to Loch Craignish just past Crinnan.  Anchored behind Goat Island for the night.

Tuesday 1st June

A miserable, grey and wet start to the day – Scotland can be like that!!  The tides meant we didn’t have to leave our anchorage until 1300 and it had started to brighten up a bit by then.  A short trip to Oban Marina today and the wind played it’s usual tricks as we changed between sailing, motor sailing and motoring about as many times as a woman changes her mind when deciding what to wear!!!  At least the sea was pretty calm for the whole trip.  Having a day off tomorrow to do the shopping etc in Oban since this is the last place with large supermarkets before we cross to Norway, should be fun because the Marina is on Kerera Island in Oban Bay and we need to get on the marina ferry to get to Oban itself – I think Sue can tell you about that.

Weather forecast seems to be forecasting fairly settled conditions with mainly Southerly winds for the next few days so we are planning on getting as far North as we can while the weather holds.

Hi all Sue here

As you can see we are finally on our way again. Weather is pretty mixed, one minute I’m dressed for the winter and the next I’m stripped of and sunbathing!! As we are in Scotland now we have a bit of drizzle today but anyone who has been to Scotland will know this is quite normal.

Rathlin Island was very pretty and a very popular place with loads of visitors coming across on the ferries. We went on a beach where seals were sunning themselves but didn’t get too close as I think they can move pretty fast when they want to. We also saw an RAF Rescue taking place which was very impressive to watch, don’t know what had happened to the person but hope they were ok.

We are now in Oban and the joys of supply shopping has come around again. We have to catch a ferry to the main land which leaves every hour. After a brisk walk from ferry Lidl was our first stop and nearly our last as we came to blows over how long onions keep!! Men are very impatient shoppers and you can’t rush supply shopping. Then brisk march back to ferry unloaded shopping on boat and back on next ferry, this we did three times but at least it’s done now ready for our trip to Norway. My best purchase was a pair of tinted reading glasses from the pound shop, what a bargain, it’s getting quite worrying how easily pleased I am these days!!

Leaving for Tobermory tomorrow, Thursday 3rd June, which I am looking forward to as it’s meant to be a very pretty and quaint place. Then on to Skye on Friday weather permitting. Doesn’t seem to be much time for drinking wine but I’m sure I will make up for it in Norway when my sister Caroline and her husband Richard visit us.

More Boat Repairs and Getting Ready to Leave Ramsey

Monday 17th May

A lot of long distance cruising people will tell you that the lifestyle is mainly about fixing boats in exotic places, mainly because boats are forever needing things fixing.  Not sure if Ramsey qualifies as an “exotic place” but there is definitely a lot of boat fixing going on at the moment.  At the moment we seem to be working harder than we ever did when we had proper jobs, but at least progress is now being made.

Today meant putting the first coat of primer on the hulls, Nimrod is now a very fetching shade of grey, looking a bit like a battleship.  Chris M has been rebuilding the fibre glass to the keels, so it really does look like things are moving in the right direction.  Even the weather has been ideal for getting the jobs done, it is forecast to stay warm and mainly dry for the next few days.

Nimrod in Battleship Grey	Rebuilding the Damage to the Port Keel

Tuesday 18th May

Another coat of primer went on the hulls today and Chris M has continued to build up the fibreglass to the keels.  The fibreglass work can only be done in stages to make sure it is all properly cured and up to full strength before more layers are added.  Chris M will put on no more than 3 layers of woven mat / chopped strand at a time, he then leaves it to cure for at least 3 hours before adding another 2 or 3 layers.  Apparently if you add to many layers at a time the laminate can get too hot because of the curing process and the strength is badly affected.  Consequently it will take a few days of gradual laminating to build the keels up to their proper strength and thickness, then it is all sanded smooth and finally gelcoat is added to finish the repair.

I have also removed the lower rudder support brackets so we can lower the rudders down to give us access to the joint between the rudder skeg and the hull.  This joint has some cracks around so Chris M wants to grind away the surface to check how far the damage extends, he is then going to reinforce the joint with glass reinforced filler.  Unfortunately when I took the brackets off it revealed some serious crevice corrosion to the bolts and brackets, see the photos.

Severe Crevice Corrosion to Nuts and Bolts	More Corrosion to the Bracket

This crevice corrosion happens to lower grades of Stainless Steel when it is isolated from oxygen, better quality Stainless drastically reduces the likelihood.  The bolts in the picture are only A2 Grade, they should be A4 for use under water, the steel used for the bracket is also not good enough for use under water.  We will have to repair any corrosion to the brackets by welding and then paint them with epoxy paint, then use some decent sealant and A4 bolts when it is all put back together.

Thursday 20th May

Well, yesterday did not go quite according to plan – does anything, when boats are involved?  The plan was to give the primer a quick rub down with wet and dry to “flat” it off prior to top-coating and then get the first coat of blue on.  Unfortunately the rubbing down took an awful lot more work than anticipated and took all day even with the help of an industrial orbital sander from the hire shop.  Finally both hulls were as smooth as a baby’s bum and ready for painting.

Today was painting day !!!  A really bad start when we opened the first tin off paint to find it was the wrong blue – Sue not happy to say the least.  We were told the colour by Broadblue some time ago, they said Awlcraft Flag Blue and I still have the email to prove it.  After much ummming and aahing we decided that the colour difference was not too much and we would go ahead and put the paint on.  After making a start it was quite obvious that the new colour was quite a lot darker but we carried on anyway – too late now!!!  After more deliberation we have decided that we have enough paint to give the inner hulls one coat as well so Nimrod will now be a new colour all over.  After putting the first coat on the outer hulls the quality of the finish is very impressive, all the different shades of primer, blue, gelcoat and filler that were showing after rubbing down the primer coat have been completely covered by the one coat and the depth of gloss is amazing, we are putting two more coats on the outer hulls so the finish should be even better then.  Seeing as the paintwork on the inner hulls is in very good condition we only need to give it a thorough clean with Scotchbrite pads and soapy water before solvent cleaning and painting with the new paint colour.  One coat should give a great finish.  After all the hassle Sue has decided she likes the new colour better than the original so all is well!!

Chris M has been continuing with his repairs to the keels and rudder skegs and everything is just about ready for final shaping and sanding prior to reinstating the gel coat.  All now on schedule to go back in the water next Wednesday, the crane is booked complete with spreader bars to ensure the lifting straps do not cause any more damage to the boat, especially our shiny new paintwork.

Not a bad finish for the First Coat !!	Keel Shoe to Stbd Keel Ready for Fitting

Saturday 22nd May

Yesterday was another bad day – they seem to be a bit too common!!!  This time it was the weather that decided it was not going to co-operate, we were going to put on the 2nd coat of blue but it stayed misty, murky and cool all day even though the rest of the UK had blue skies and high temps.  There was no point painting in those conditions – the paint would not dry properly.  We did manage to complete a lot of other jobs so the day was not totally wasted.  Weather forecast was not good for Saturday – more mist and not much sun – not very promising.

Up early today with plans for tarpaulins and space heaters to try and beat the murky weather, fortunately none of this was needed because the sun was out and the weather was gorgeous – if anything it was a bit too hot but we didn’t complain.  The port side of the boat was right in the sun and was very hot so it was a bit of a frantic job to get the paint rolled on and tipped off before it started to go off.  We got both sides of the boat painted and looking really good, one more coat to go tomorrow.

Chris M has now got gel coat on all the repairs and tested the keel shoes for fit, Nimrod is finally starting to look as if she might be ready to go back in the water.

Hi all Sue here

As you know from last blog my job was going to be tipping off the paint but unfortunately I was relegated after the first two strokes!!  My new job was topping up paint tray and handing roller or brush to Chris as he needed them.  I did come up with one good idea though, flies kept landing on the fresh paint and making a right mess, I suggested getting my tweezers and plucking them off.  So that became my job as well.  Sunday was last coat of paint day to whole boat so we started painting at 7am and finished at 3pm it was a mammoth job but looks great now.  When we were painting the last hull a breeze blew up and not only flies were landing on boat but loads of dandelion fluff!!  I was kept very busy on the scaffolding planks with my tweezers in hand then disaster struck, I tripped on a plank and put my hand out to save myself leaving a handprint on the freshly painted hull!!  Chris was very good about it and managed to repair the damage but tactfully suggested that maybe I was making more mess than the dandelions!!

There is a lovely cat here that someone has left behind and so has become the boatyard cat. She seems to have taken a fancy to our boat and it gets quite entertaining when every time Chris climbs of the boat with her as he gets back on she jumps back on behind him. He’s given up now just have to make sure she’s not on board before we leave.

Sue with the Yard Cat / Stowaway!

We have been so lucky with the weather and when I think Chris is not looking I do a bit of sunbathing on the nets but it’s never long before he finds me!!  Not long now though and we will be having a well deserved rest in Scotland and I can relax and have a glass of wine or two knowing that I haven’t got to be up at 6am to start work.

Monday 24th May

Well after a 13 hour day yesterday, today was another busy long day – we really need a rest now!!!  The keel shoes were fitted with loads of sealant and bolted through the keels just to be sure – they will not be coming off anytime soon.  Our folding props were stripped and greased, oil was changed in both saildrive legs, keels were drilled and filled with high density foam to give more strength and stiffness, holes were then resealed with high strength filler and glass fibre.  All repair areas were gelcoated and sanded smooth where ever they needed it and finally the waterline was masked off ready for painting the boot topping line.  It does not sound like much when you write it down but it was another 13 hour day and you all think we are enjoying ourselves on our boat!!!

Tuesday 25th May

On the final push to get everything finished ready to go in the water tomorrow, started today thinking “only a few little jobs to do” but it still managed to stretch to another 12 hour day.  We sanded and gelcoated the holes wed made to put the foam into the keels, masked off and painted the waterline with two coats of red boot topping and anti-fouled all the repair areas and the keel shoes.  Cyril appeared late in the afternoon to put our name back on the hulls and transom so we are “Nimrod of Malvern” again.  Chris M finished off the repairs to the deck.  One of the biggest jobs was tidying up all the tools and equipment that had been used over the last few weeks to make sure everything went back where it belonged.

What a Pretty Behind !!!	Finally Shipshape and Shining Ready for Splash Tomorrow

 

Wednesday 26th May

Splash Down Day!!!

Yet another early start to make sure everything was ready for the arrival of the crane to put us back in the water.  We collected the spreader bars from the Shipyard and concocted a cunning plan as to how everything was going to work – nothing to it!!!  Dave arrived with the crane, on time at 0930 and proceeded to get set up in the right place to give himself maximum lifting capacity while Den, Brian and Bill moved a couple of boats to create enough room alongside the quay.  Lots of carpet had been acquired to go between the lifting strops and our new paintwork so this was hung over the sides while the strops were put into place.  Getting the spreader bars into place and making sure the strops were in the right positions and everything else was OK took a while, but there was no need to rush, best to get it all absolutely spot on first.  Dave slowly took up the load on the crane while I checked everything was OK, eventually Nimrod was clear of all her wooden blocks and chocks and ready to swing over the water.  Dave was excellent on the crane and everything was done extremely smoothly and we were lowered into the water with the crane alarm only going off for the last stretch over the water – much better than the lift out.  We had a lot of people on the boat yard watching or helping and I think everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief as we were safely lowered into the water.

The afternoon was spent washing all the muck off the boat, some minor finishing jobs and more tidying.  We had Chris Machin on board for a meal in the evening, I think Sue has fed him most of the last few days with bacon butties, tea and cakes.  We had a tour of Chris’ boat, White Lady, she is a “work in progress” as Chris is preparing her for sailing away but she is a very cosy boat that reminded Sue of an Alice in Wonderland adventure.  She is a 50’ steel boat that Chris bought as an incomplete project and he is definitely making progress – it could be a while before she is completely finished though!!!

“Hold Your Breath Time” as Nimrod is Swung Out Over the Water	Finally Back Where We Belong

 

Thursday 27th May

We decided to stay in Ramsey another day because the wind was forecast to be NW F4-5 that was not very good for our passage towards Scotland.  The forecast for Friday is a much nicer SW F4-5 so we thought another day would not make much difference.  We have moved through the swing bridge to the outer part of the harbour so we can set off as soon as we have enough water tomorrow.  We are planning to head towards Portpatrick for our first hop and then up towards Islay, it all depends on the weather as usual.

Before we leave we must say a huge thank-you to all the people who have helped make our stay in Ramsey as pleasant as possible in the circumstances.  We have met an awful lot of very interesting people who have all been so helpful to us, too many to name individually.  We will mention Ernie, Dennis and Brian at the yard for everything they have done, Keith and Martin the Harbourmasters for their cheerful assistance, Kelvin at the Shipyard and a very special thanks to Chris Machin who has worked extremely hard to make sure we made it back in the water on time as well as helping with lots of other bits and pieces.

Our blog updates may be a bit more sporadic over the next few weeks since Internet access might be a bit hit and miss around the Scottish Islands, but we will keep you updated with our adventures as often as we can.

 

Boat Repairs Begin !

At Work in Ramsey

Hi all Sue here

Surveyor came last Friday and after amending a couple of things he gave us the go ahead to start work on Nimrod.  I can’t begin to describe the mess after both back cabins had to be virtually dismantled to enable reinforcement work to be done to both hulls, this is where Nimrod was damaged when we were craned out as spreader bars weren’t used.  They will be used on the lift back in!!  After they had finished grinding down and reinforcing the whole cabin was covered in a fine white dust which got into everything.  I donned my overalls, equipped myself with lots of scrubbing gear and got stuck in.  Chris then put everything back together and I moved all our things back in.

Sue Hard at Work, Rubbing Down	A Dirty Job – Grinding out the Damage

Chris has started sanding the hulls down ready for painting,  I did help with the rubbing down but don’t think I did very well as Chris went over wherever I had done, I think it’s a man thing!!  Paint has arrived so that’s good, only thing is I have got to watch the DVD that came with it as my job is to do the “Tipping Off”.  Oh dear this doesn’t bode well!!

Got to give it to him though Chris has worked really hard this week getting all preparation work done and making steel shoes to fit onto bottom of keels for when repair work has been completed,  When he came in last night he looked as if he had had a blue rinse after sanding down the paintwork, very fetching indeed!! Don’t know what he looked like most my late nan or a smurf!!

Although it’s been a bit trying here these last few weeks we are lucky that we have good family and friends who have kept us going with their texts, emails and phone calls so thank you all for that.  If the work keeps progressing as it is now we should still be leaving here around the 26th May.

Port Side – Lots of Sanding and Filling	Starboard Keel – Ground out Ready for Laminate Repair

Chris’ Turn Now !!!

It has been a very, very busy 10 days working on the boat.  First job was to make steel shoes to protect and strengthen the bottom of the keels for the future – they should eliminate any risk of similar damage.  We bought the steel from the shipyard next door and hired a welder from the hire shop and then spent 3 days welding and grinding to get the shoes completed.  Sue forgot to take some photos of me hard at work so we will post some photos of the shoes when we put them on the keels.  Finally the shoes were moved round to the workshop and painted with two pack epoxy.  All told it took 5 days to get them completed.

Next job was to prepare the hull sides ready for painting – this was a real marathon job!!  As you may know the preparation work is the most important part of any painting job so it had to be done right.  First the hulls were rubbed down with Scotchbrite pads and plenty of soapy water to get rid of any polish, grease and dirt that might have been on the surface.  Next was sanding down the surface to make sure it is nice and smooth, any blemishes, scratches and cracks were ground out and filled followed by more sanding.  Hopefully the four days work have produced a smooth, flawless surface ready for painting.  Finally the hulls were washed off with very fine Scotchbrite and lots of soapy water, then sponged clean again and flushed off with the hosepipe.  Painting starts on Monday provided the weather plays the game – the forecast is good for the beginning of the week.

Chris Machin and I have ground out all the damage to the keels and Chris is going to start the fibreglass work on Monday.  He is confident he can make the repair stronger than the original build and together with the keel shoes there should be plenty of strength for the future. 

We need a week of reasonable weather to get the painting and fibreglass work all complete, there will then be a major clean up required to get Nimrod back to her best.  We hope to be back in the water 24th or 25th of May – fingers crossed.

Frustrated in Ramsey!

A quick update to let you all know what is going on here in Ramsey, unfortunately it is not very much just yet!!!  We managed to get the repair estimate completed and sent off to the Insurance Company, they decided the total cost meant they needed to send their own surveyor over to confirm the extent of the work and the costs before we can get on with the work.  The surveyor is supposed to be here on Friday, we are hoping that his flight does not get cancelled due to Icelandic ash clouds.

Once the surveyor has done his inspection work can start in earnest to get us all shipshape and back in the water.  The actual work involved should not take too long, but some of it is weather dependent, let’s hope the sun shines!!  As usual everything to do with boats always seems to take longer than you thought, we have had to get used to this over the last couple of weeks and try to accept that things will get done in their own good time – all well and good but it is a bit frustrating at times when you just want to get on with things.

At least the delays have allowed us to catch up with some of the outstanding jobs on our “never ending” To Do list, so the time has not been completely wasted.  Spent yesterday afternoon with some big jacks borrowed from the next door shipyard and lots of bits of wood – we had to jack up the aft end of Nimrod to get the keels well clear of the ground to make the repair work as easy as possible.  We are now about a foot higher and best of all we are now level so we are not constantly living on a slope.

We have managed to do a bit of exploring on our bikes and we had to try out various local pubs to make sure the beer was up to scratch – not too sure on that yet so will probably have to try a few more!  Went to a lovely little restaurant called the Harbour Bistro for Sue’s Birthday and had a really nice meal, we met a South African couple there who have just got back from a Round the World holiday – they did it in about 100 days and they really enjoyed themselves.  The way things are going at the moment it might take us that long just to get to Norway!!

Spring has Sprung in the Isle of Man	Mooragh Park, Ramsey

Mooragh Park is just a couple of minutes walk from the boat and is very impressive for a Council facility, it has a huge lake that is used for Sailing, Canoeing, Rowing etc, there is also bowls, tennis, kiddies playgrounds, skateboard park, mountain bike course, cafe, crazy golf and, best of all, outdoor gym equipment all round the park (not used these yet!!!).  All in all a lovely park and immaculately maintained by the staff. 

Bank Holiday Monday the Park was host to a Bike show for all sorts of motor bikes and also on display were some of the Trophies for the Isle of Man TT, they were very impressive at over 4ft high.

Some Harley’s at the Show	One of the Early TT Racers

Hopefully our next update will give news of our speedy progress with repairs to Nimrod.

Hi all Sue here

As Chris has said living on a boat yard waiting to get thing’s done has proved very frustrating to say the least!!  Up until yesterday we were on a slope but now Chris has jacked Nimrod up ready for repairs we are back level, so no more frantic showers trying to stop the water overflowing the shower tray and pans escaping whilst cooking!!

I have had one little mishap though, I’ve managed to split one of my yellow buckets, I was so upset as you can imagine.  Then Chris said not to worry and produced another one, I wonder how many he’s got stashed away!!

Had a very nice surprise on my birthday as Joe and Vikki, my son and daughter, put together a video for me on face book. It included them, my granddaughter Courtney, my mum, my niece Liz and Lotty (mums spaniel). It was lovely and very much appreciated.

Can someone please tell me why when men plan bike rides and tell you it’s a nice gentle route they have planned it always ends up with lots of hills!! He keeps trying to tell me that for every uphill there has to be a downhill but I can assure you this is not the case!!  To make matters worse I hadn’t put my special padded cycle shorts on so I was not very happy by the time we got back!!

I am still looking forward to going to Norway but it might now mean a quicker dash through Scotland. Not to worry we can take our time on the way back.  Hopefully we will be leaving here 26th May so keep everything crossed for us.

On the Boatyard

Hi Everyone
I just thought I would give you my version of things before Chris does his more technical update!!
Nimrod was lifted out on Friday 16th April and it was pretty hairy!!  It took three goes before they managed to lift her out and I think by then everyone on the boatyard was holding their breath. The amount of water pouring out of the keels reinforced the fact that we had indeed sustained a lot of damage in the Easter storm.  We did have to go to the pub after for a few stiff drinks!!
Unfortunately the laundrette I found is now some distance away but Chris has very kindly offered to get my bike out so I can bike there!! I think Chris would look good with a yellow bucket on his head!!.  At least we have got hot water and electric so it’s not as bad as we thought it would be.
We couldn’t have asked for better weather so with that and all the walking we are doing we are getting tanned and fit.  Not sure how long we will be here as we have to wait for quote to be done and then for the insurance company to approve it.
They have a lovely boating park here and at various spots on the way round they have installed items of gym equipment.  I think I might have a go one day but it was busy on Sunday so I will go on a quieter day in case I fall off something.
Dennis, one of the people who helped us lift the boat out, has just been round to invite us for a meal one day next week and to offer any help with the work on Nimrod.  People are so friendly here.  I have jokingly told everyone we have got to be from here by end of May to enable us to get to Norway by 22nd June. That’s when my sister Caroline and her husband Richard are flying out to stay with us!! Don’t worry Caroline I’m sure it will all go according to plan!!

Tuesday 20th April
Well as you have read above we got lifted out as planned.  Three goes required, mainly in order to ensure the crane was in the best place to cope with the weight of Nimrod and also to make sure the crane legs were properly supported on the gravel of the yard.  Once the crane driver was happy the lift was pretty straightforward, apart from the fact we were right on the limit for the crane.  It seems our total weight was 15,500kgs which is a bit more than expected, however as she came out of the water some of the excess weight was explained by the water pouring out of the damaged keels.  Both keel sections were pretty well full of water so this probably meant at least 1 tonne of water that should not have been there.

Getting Ready to Lift Nimrod

Nearly Down on Solid Ground

As you can see from the photos Nimrod looks a very big boat when she is out of the water.  We are now safely chocked and supported on the yard waiting for work to start.
Chris Machin has been round today to survey the damage and decide on the work that will be needed to get us back shipshape and ready to go.  The photo below shows the worst area of damage to the port keel at the aft end.  There is damage to the starboard side in the same place but not as severe.  The rest of the damage is confined to the edges of the keels on all sides, this is mainly superficial but is still going to be properly repaired.  Unfortunately the access into the keel sections is almost impossible so the repair work will be a bit more difficult as it will all need to be done from outside.  Chris is confident that he has a suitable plan to ensure the repair is strong enough to do the job, it will probably mean filling the keels with waterproof foam to give a sound base for the repair and then putting stainless steel shoes on the bottom of the keels to reinforce the repair and ensure complete watertight integrity, hopefully it will also minimise any chances of a repetition of the problems.

Damage to Aft End of Port Keel

So we are waiting for Chris Machin to get the estimate off to the Insurance Company and then we just need the OK to get on with the work, hopefully work can start in a couple of days. 
Although it is a bit of a pain to be sat on the yard when the weather is so nice, we also know that Nimrod will be properly sorted and ready for anything the future holds.  At least the weather means the repairs will not get delayed and hopefully we will still have plenty on decent weather to make our way up through the Scottish Islands.

Last Weekend in Castletown

Friday 9th April
A sunny start to the day, Sue busy with her lovely yellow buckets doing the washing and another crane on the quayside to lift a boat called Shemali Blue back into the water.  This boat has been on the quayside for about 18 months and was tied up in the harbour prior to that, she is a well travelled boat but has been neglected over the last couple of years.  It seems she was sold last Nov and the new owner is intending to get her back into seaworthy condition and then joint the ARC Rally across the Atlantic from the Canaries to St Lucia in November.  As you can see from the photo there is an awful lot of work to do to get her ready.  She was motored up to Douglas, after being put in the water, to have her mast stepped.  Then she was heading for Peel to be lifted out again for a complete shot blast and paint job – no doubt this will make a huge difference to her looks.  All we can do is wish the new owner the very best of luck getting her ready and then completing the Atlantic Crossing.

Wash Day in Castletown – Sue’s Buckets               Shemali Blue Being Lifted Into the Water
Hazy sunshine here with a light breeze, so quite a pleasant day.  We went for a walk along Silver Burn to Ballasala and then back along the road to Castletown.  A peaceful little stroll that used up a couple of hours.  We passed Billown mansion on the way back, you couldn’t see the house itself but the lions guarding the gate and the length of the drive were very impressive in their own right, the drive seemed to be about a mile long of brick paving with trees lining the sides!!!  Apparently it is owned by the man who also part owns the Trafford Centre and Manchester Ship Canal.

Silver Burn, Castletown                                         Entrance and Driveway to Billown Mansion
Off to the Gluepot on Friday Night for a few drinks with the locals, almost empty when we got there but it was then invaded by the local youngsters all dressed in golfing attire.  They were on a pub crawl with scorecards to record their “scores” – no doubt some sore heads in the morning, they stayed about 20mins before teeing off to the next hole.
Saturday 10th April
More sunshine as we managed to do a bit of boat tidying in between relaxation with a cup of tea and a book.  Thought we would try The Sidings for a couple of drinks tonight – it turned out to be Karaoke Night and it seemed to attract the good and bad of Castletown for a Saturday Night Out.  It was highly entertaining, Les was excellent doing 4 or 5 Neil Diamond songs, Dave was not bad on Sinatra and they both did “The Laughing Policeman” together – never heard it done on Karaoke before but they were hilarious.  The less said about Spider and his mates the better – truly awful!!!  The rest varied between pretty good and pretty bad – much the same as Karaoke anywhere.  We declined to entertain them with any of our specialities!!!
Sunday 11th April
Out into Castletown Bay in the dinghy armed with fishing rods to do battle with the monsters of the deep first thing in the morning.  Managed to catch a couple of decent Pollack that were nicely filleted and served up with wine and butter sauce – they always taste much better when they are free and fresh!! 
Sorted the boat ready for our trip up to Ramsey tomorrow, very light winds forecast so probably going to be motoring all the way.  We plan to leave about 0830 so we should have the tide with us all the way to Ramsey.
A stroll round Scarlett Point this afternoon, along the coast towards Port St Mary’s and then back across some very rough fields and along the road to Castletown.  The hazy clouds finally disappeared today to give us nice blue skies and sunshine, the same that the rest of the country have been enjoying.

Looking across Castletown Bay                              The Main Square in Castletown
Monday 12th April
Left Castletown at 0830 and motored all the way to Ramsey since we had no wind, at least the sun was shining and the sea was calm.  Ramsey is much more commercial with fishing boats, cargo boats and all sorts of repair yards etc.  Harbourmasters and everyone else has been very welcoming so we hope our stay is going to go as well as can be expected.  There are plenty of pubs around the harbour and all the main shops are only a short walk so we should be able to survive OK.  We have found the library with free Wi-Fi so we will be able to keep you all up to date with our blog.  So now we just wait until lift-out day on Friday to find out exactly how much damage we have sustained in the Easter Gales.
Hi all Sue here
If anyone knows of a good divorce lawyer let me know!!  I can’t believe Chris has put that picture of me and the yellow buckets on our blog and I haven’t worked out how to delete them yet!!
Next week or so could prove testing as we will be living on board on the boatyard and toilets/showers are quite a distance away.  Perhaps my yellow buckets could be put to a different use!!  Chris keeps telling me it’s all part of boating but I don’t remember him mentioning this before.  Just want to get the work done and get on our way now, patience is a virtue but it’s not one of mine!!  At least Ramsey is quite a big place so lots to explore and best of all it has a laundrette!!  I’m off to the shops now to stock up on wet wipes and deodorant.
Best Wishes to Everyone
Sue and Chris

Stormy Easter in Castletown

Hi everyone it’s Sue here.

After horrendous weather over the Easter weekend our plans have now changed.

Good Friday we went to a Local Food Fayre in Port St Mary. There wasn’t really much there, more like a WI get together but we did buy some scallops and cod from the fishmonger and then caught the next bus back to Castletown.

Easter Sunday a local man came aboard and told us with the weather forecast, southerly winds and gale force 9, it would be advisable to move to a different part of the harbour.  That was all well and good but the tide was going out fast so it didn’t leave us much time to get sorted.  We moved Nimrod and just had time to get a couple of lines tied on before she settled on the seabed.  It was not one of our better moves, more like organised chaos with a few gestures thrown in!!  We set our alarms for 02.00 so we would be up and ready to tighten the lines as the tide came in, bliss.  Unfortunately the swell was so great that Nimrod was thrown backwards and forwards on the seabed and a lot of rocks were uncovered as the sand was washed away. It was awful to listen to as she hit the rocks but there was nothing we could do.  We then had to wait for the tide to go out, which was just as bad again, before we could assess any damage.  It appeared we had sustained damage to the keels, mainly the portside one.

It was now Easter Monday and we decided that it would be best to move Nimrod to another berth when the tide came in, by this time the weather was even worse with waves coming over the breakwater and onto Nimrod.  With the help of the Harbour Master Tony and the said local man Mike we managed to move her but it was at this time I thought camper vans seemed very appealing!!  At least the new berth had a sandy bottom but dried out on a slope which proved challenging when showering or cooking.  When the tide came in though because of the swell it was a challenge to just stand up and I hadn’t even had a drink, even I couldn’t face a drink in this weather!!  The gale reached force 10 that night and all I can say is it wasn’t pleasant, a bit like childbirth - all forgotten now!!  Wednesday saw us on the move again and guess what we went back to our original berth!!  Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I think we probably should have stayed there all along. 

Thursday was another challenge for me, hand washing the bedding and towels.  Chris says i seem to have a knack of making easy things look difficult, perhaps he should have a go next time.  Mind you girls I’m so lucky, I have been bought two huge yellow buckets to do it in so you can keep your washing machines, yellow buckets are definitely the way forward!!  Perhaps I might wear wellies and waterproofs next time though, don’t know how I managed to get so wet!!.  I think a glass or two of wine is in order tonight.

Hence our change of plans as Nimrod is being lifted out by crane in Ramsey on 16th April to repair any damage.  We are going to have timber fitted to the bottom of the keels as well to protect them from this happening again.  Just as well we are insured.  The work should only take a couple of days so all being well we will be on our way to Scotland before too long.

Chris’ turn now!!!

As you can see, Sue has finally managed to put fingers to keyboard and tell you her side of the story – unfortunately it took two attempts because the laptop decided to freeze and loose all Sue’s hard work after her first story.  Have to say it was not her fault, but it must be said she was not very happy!!!

The weather from Easter Sunday onwards was absolutely awful.  It started picking up on Sunday evening rising from a few knts to over 25 in only 3 – 4 hrs.  Then throughout Sunday night and all day Monday it was constantly between 25 & 35knts (F6-8), Monday night and into Tuesday morning was even worse with winds between 35 & 45knts (F8-9) with a maximum speed of 52knts recorded on our wind speed indicator.  Finally started easing off late Tuesday and by Wednesday it was like it had never happened with less than 10knts all day and blue skies to go with it.  The biggest problem was the wind direction, it was forecast to be South Westerly direction but was actually Southerly.  SW would not have been too bad in Castletown but the change to Southerly was enough to blow a significant swell into the harbour and even though we had tried to move to a position that was more sheltered it was not really possible to avoid the swell completely.

This meant that as the tide went out the swell was enough to make Nimrod rise and fall, as well as surge back and forwards as we settled onto the seabed, with the same again as the tide returned.  This meant some pretty hard landings on some pretty hard lumps – 12 tons of boat bouncing up and down on rocky lumps is not nice, consequently the bottoms of our keels had a bit of a battering.  From what I can see they have survived remarkably well, with only two or three areas sustaining serious damage.  All will be revealed in gory detail when we get lifted out next week.

The repairer we have spoken to is based in Ramsey and he has a reputation as one of the best fibreglass composite experts in the North of England area.  He also lectures at the University of Belfast on the subject so we are happy that any repairs will be top quality.

It seems the joys of boating also has one or two downsides, although we will probably have to deal with a lot more problems in the future so perhaps we can just call this “practice”.  Weather today (Thurs) is sunny with no wind and forecast to stay that way for at least the weekend.  The winds of Mon & Tues already seem to be a distant memory – amazing what a bit of sunshine can do.

Winter in the Isle of Man

Well, what a change from the weekend, the week began wet and windy and it has carried on in the same vein ever since.  Monday saw us woken early by heavy rain battering down on the boat and it barely stopped all day.  Tuesday was more wind and not as much rain, winds up to about 25 knts backing from SE round to NE through the day, this meant a bit of wash and swell getting up the harbour to keep us bobbing around.  It was also a pretty high spring tide so our side decks were level with the road alongside the harbour – never been that high here before!!

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday was pretty much as the forecast said it would be, the wind rising all night and early morning to around 30knts with gusts up to 40knts.  Fortunately it was from the NW, meaning it was blowing directly down the harbour, out to sea, so it was pretty calm on the water compared to earlier in the week. We have also had snow and hailstones, with snow lying on the higher ground to the centre of the Island all day.

Here in the IOM the weather forecast is produced by the Meteorology Department at Ronaldsway Airport and is generally pretty accurate – more so than we are used from the UK Met Office – although, it must be said they are forecasting for a much smaller area.  If you want to check the forecast if you are ever planning to visit or just to see what we are having to put up with then the website is www.gov.im/infocentre/weather.aspx .  The forecast predicts another windy day for Thursday, calmer for Friday, mixed for the weekend and a bit more wind early next week – and you all thought we were here to enjoy ourselves.  The longer term forecasts suggest the weather might improve mid next week, all we can do is wait and see what happens.  There are worse places to be!!!

We have found the Library in Castletown and it offers free Wi-Fi, so that is how we are keeping our Blog and emails up to date.  The Library is quite small, but it has a huge number of books packed onto it’s many shelves – very impressive, especially as it does not seem to be that busy.  We also picked up some books they were selling off, a bargain as well – 5 books for £1.

Shopping is a bit of a shock, even though Castletown has a Co-op and a large Shoprite supermarket the prices are noticeably higher than what were used to in Caernarfon where we had Lidl, Morrisons, Farmfoods, Iceland, Poundstretcher etc.  It looks like we might have to use some of our supplies a bit sooner than we hoped – although we should be able to stock up again in Oban.

A wet floor mat in our cabin when crossing from Anglesey caused some further investigation about the source – it turned out to be from the space between the cockpit floor and the bridgedeck between the hulls.  Living on board all winter gave us quite a lot of condensation throughout the boat that we had to deal with, we did not realise how much had accumulated in the space below the cockpit.

This space is underneath the cockpit and extends to the area behind the helm, it is accessed through a door in the back of the wardrobe in the aft port cabin.  This is pretty easy because the main volume of the space houses the back of the main switch panel, main wiring connections, shore power transformer and inverter, lots of electronics as well as the back of all the helm instruments and switches.  I have to get in there quite often to check on various bits or make changes to wiring etc and I can even stand up in the space behind the helm station.  Unfortunately the underside of the cockpit floor is pretty close to the top of the bridge deck for most of the rest of the area and towards the sides the bridgedeck curves down to where it meets the cabin walls resulting in a deep V shaped channel that is almost impossible to see normally.  I could see some condensation on the flat areas when getting in to the area previously but it didn’t seem like much to be concerned about – normal winter stuff if you like. However over time this condensation has run into these V channels on either side and accumulated into a fair amount of water, our bouncy crossing had sloshed this water into places it was not meant to go resulting in our wet mat!!  **Hope that is all nice and clear**.  Luckily the wet mat was the worst problem it caused.

Getting into the gap to clean everything out was definitely a bit of a challenge, I could just about squeeze in on my stomach, no chance of turning round and a good deep breath made it very tight on the ribs!!  It was also pretty obvious that this space had not been cleaned out since Nimrod was built so it was pretty grotty.  Sponge, scouring pad, lots of disinfectant and wet vac had it cleaned up in a couple of hours with over 1/2 gallon of slimy, muddy water removed.  All clean and fresh now and another job to add to our regular job list – see how lucky we are to have all these pleasant things to do in our spare time.

Thursday turns out to be a nice sunny day, still a bit chilly, but much more pleasant than the rest of the week.  A busy day in Castletown Harbour with a crane on the quay to lift seven boats off the quay and back into the water.  There seemed to be an awful lot of consternation over the one boat we watched being lifted, it took about 1/2 hr to decide where to put the lifting strops!!  It did seem to go smoothly after that.

Easter weekend weather is still not looking too good, so we are not expecting to go anywhere till mid next week.  Bus trip to Port St Mary planned for tomorrow to the food festival that is being held by Paddy’s Market on the harbour – hopefully plenty of free samples on offer and scallops & fish fresh out of the sea to feed us for a few days.