More From Norway – Heading South

Norway – What Do We Think So Far?

Well we have been here nearly a month so we thought we would give you a bit of an overview of our time here so far.

Most of you have probably heard that Norway is very expensive – we can tell you that it is pretty frightening if you want to go to the pub or go out for a nice meal, just expensive for general supermarket shopping and amazingly cheap for mooring the boat – all in all quite a contrast in prices.

Beer (lager or cider only) in supermarkets is about £7 per litre or £3.50 for a standard can, even if you buy it by the case.  Anything stronger than lager, such as wine and spirits, can only be bought in government off-licences and we have not ventured into one yet (we have only seen one).  We have been told that an average wine is about £12-15 per bottle, so generally about 3 times what we would pay in the UK.

Restaurant prices are eye-wateringly expensive – a main course will be around £40.00, an average wine about £40 per bottle, 1/2 pint glass of lager about £7 and we did see one place with bottles of real ale such as Spitfire, Hobgoblin, Pedigree etc at around £20 per bottle!!!!  These prices do not seem to guarantee 5 star quality and service, this is your average High Street Chain.

Supermarket prices are not quite as daft with basics such as potatoes, bread and eggs costing about the same as corner shop prices in the UK or 1.5 times brand prices in supermarkets.  There is nothing like Aldi or Lidl here, the discount supermarkets all seem to be the same prices as any other shops.  Most supermarkets have a very good range available so getting hold of anything you might want is quite easy.  All supermarkets seem to sell ready cooked frozen prawns in shell by the kilo, you just shovel what you want into a bag from the big box in the freezer, these seem to be a bargain at £1.50 per kilo but we have not tried any yet.

It is a good job we stocked the boat with food and drink before we left Scotland as we have not really needed to buy anything other than basic provisions so far.

Mooring fees for the boat are in complete contrast to everything else, varying from free to £15 per night in the city centre of Stavanger, mostly it is £8-10 per night including electric.  Lots of places have honesty boxes where you put your money in an envelope and then into a post box (we seem to have a lot of trouble finding these boxes).  We are currently in a lovely little harbour called Rekefjord that has a nice wooden quayside with picnic tables, electric points, water and brand new toilet/shower block – here there is no charge at all for visiting boats, yes that is correct, all for free.  Can you imagine that happening in the UK?  For you non-boaties UK prices for overnight mooring for Nimrod are about £20 in smaller more remote harbours around the Irish Sea and West Scotland Areas, bigger marinas would be around £30-40, Dun Lauogharie near Dublin around £80 per night!!!  The South Coast of the UK would all be in the £40-80 range for us, so you can see how cheap Norway is.  Apparently as we go further South the charges get a bit higher with £20 per night being about average.

Rekefjord Harbour	Remote Anchorage – Anchored with Bridle on Bows, Stern Lines Ashore

Obviously with such a spectacular coastline as Norway there are also innumerable places where we can anchor for free in almost total peace and shelter, so we will be using the anchor a bit more as we go South.  Very common over here is using a stern anchor and then running lines from the bows to the shore, lots of places even have rings screwed into the rocks for these lines.  We tend to use our main anchor and then have lines from the Stern.  A large percentage of Norwegian boats have a proper stern anchor set-up complete with roller arm, windlass and chain locker so this method of mooring is then easy-peasy.

Finally the scenery is every bit as stunning and jaw dropping as the travel brochures and programmes would have you believe.  The areas we have explore so far are all very green if there is any soil for the vegetation to grow in or it is steep and rocky cliffs to the sides of the fjords, lots of the country is forested with pine trees or scrub.  The Norwegians seem to put sheep or goats on practically any island and you can hear the bells around their necks whenever you are anchored.

Waterfalls and Misty Mountains, Sauda	Tanager Harbour – A Peaceful Morning

We have said before that the photos cannot really show the scale of the scenery, everything seems to be huge when you are sailing up the Fjords, especially when the Fjord is quite narrow with waterfalls seeming to fall out of the sky alongside the boat and roads appear to hang on the side of the cliffs like ribbons.

Sailing in the Fjords tends to be all or nothing, the wind either blows up or down the fjord normally from the direction you want to go!!! It is also quite gusty with the valleys and islands tending to funnel and accelerate the wind so it is quite entertaining at times.  We seem to go everywhere using one or other of our headsails because they are very easy to pull out or roll away depending on what the wind is doing, I don’t think we have even raised the mainsail since we got to Norway.  Depending on the wind speed we can sail at anything between 4 and 9 knots with just one of our headsails and this is fine when we are generally not going very far between stops.

The weather here has been a bit mixed so far – and yes we know you have been having a heat wave at home – some beautiful sunny days and others grey and wet.  When the sun does shine the scenery looks even more amazing with the air being crystal clear and the light seemingly brighter than we are used to.  On grey days it looks more like Scotland in the winter.  The other good thing is that we get about 20hrs of daylight at the moment so the sun does not set until well after 10pm so it is easy to make the best of the sunshine when we get it.

We have decided to start heading South down the coast away from the recognised Fjord areas towards the busier South Coast of Norway, here there are still lots of offshore islands protecting the coast and plenty of little harbours to explore.  Also the weather is a bit warmer and a bit more settled in the Skaggerak region between Norway, Sweden and Denmark so sunshine should be in greater supply than it has been so far!!! 

We are now heading down the exposed North Sea Coast between Tananger in the North and Lindesnes Point in the South, this section has very few safe harbours so we are keeping a close eye on the weather to make sure we get good conditions.  We are just over half-way down now, waiting in Rekefjord for better winds, the forecast says NW 10-12 knots for tomorrow so that should be good for making more progress.  A smaller monohull left this morning to go south with the forecast saying SE 14 incr 20knts, he was back about 40 mins later having got as far as the fjord entrance and deciding it was not a good idea – especially as he had his son on board who hates sailing in anything rougher than a bathtub.  Once we get past Lindesnes there are many more offshore islands to give us shelter and the coast starts to head more NE towards Oslo meaning we can sail happily in the normal SW winds.

Not sure where we are heading for yet, we may cross to Denmark (supplies, especially drinks, are much cheaper) or we could go to Sweden and down towards the Baltic area.  Not good making too many plans on a boat because the weather always decides to do something different.

Hi all Sue here

Well Captain Chris seems to have covered everything in his version so I will just add some drivel!!

Sorry to have to report ladies but those yellow buckets are still in use, not many laundry facilities available in the quieter places we have been staying in. Chris has managed to repair the one I split bless him so I have three in use now!!

Alcohol supplies are starting to run low and the cheap wine we brought with us to trade for fish with local fishermen doesn’t taste too bad with soda. To hell with the fish I’ve got lots of chicken in the freezer and my needs are greater!! Having said that Chris has caught lots of mackerel but I would prefer cod, he is still working on it and in the meantime the freezer is slowly filling up with mackerel!! I think we might have to lose a few overboard when he’s not looking. He did catch a big salmon the other day but I think casting your line into a fish farm might be cheating a bit!! I can always turn a blind eye though!!

I’m looking forward to getting further south to hopefully warmer climates as the weather has definitely been mixed here so far. We might even be able to afford to go to the pub!!

Finally, for anyone who might be reading this who hasn't got our email address, we have added a Contact Details page (click on link on left).  Feel free to pass on any comments or ask questions etc.

Visitors on Board !!!

As we said in our last post Sue’s sister Caroline and hubby Rich came to see us for a week.  It was great to have some company and we had a really busy week, did a lot of miles and a lot of walking, Rich did about 3 times as much as anybody else because he is trekking up Mt Kilimanjaro later this month so he was getting some serious training done

The weather was a bit mixed but fortunately the worst of the weather happened on the days we had to sail quite a distance, the days when we wanted to go exploring or chilling out were generally very nice.

We started in Hjellstad marina, just south of Bergen, and we set off almost as soon as Caroline and Rich got on board.  We motored through calm seas in patchy sunshine to a little village called Uskedalen, the scenery on the way was beautiful with hardly any other boats on the water.  Uskedalen is in the huge Hardangerfjord that is over 80 miles long from the open sea, we were only about 25 miles up the fjord in a smaller sub-fjord, it was almost impossible to imagine the main fjord going on for another 60 miles!!!

Uskedalen, Hardangerfjord	A Calm Evening in the Fjords

Next day was an early start but only about 20 miles to get to Sundaal, a bit further up the Fjord in another sub-branch – this place was recommended to us by Paddy & Jill off Blackjack so we expecting great things.  It was another flat calm day so more motoring, but the fjords looked wonderful in the crystal clear light – the photos really do not do it justice.  We walked from the boat up into the mountains to a lake with a glacier heading down into it, the glacier used to come all the way down into the lake but now it melts before it gets anywhere near, it was well worth the walk though.  We met a very interesting local man at the lake who told us about a man who lived in a cave by the lake to avoid working – sounds a bit extreme.  Rich decided he needed to walk a bit further as part of his training so the rest of us headed back to the boat, Rich returned about 4hrs later having hiked all the way up to the snowline and back.

Sundaal Lake with Glacier Behind	Richard Finds Snow in the Mountains

The next couple of days were a bit grey and miserable but we needed to make some progress South towards Stavanger.  Thurs 24th was a long day from Sundaal to Haugesund covering about 55miles in 8 hours, down the Hardangerfjord and out into the North Sea before getting back into the shelter of the offshore islands at Haugesund.  Although it was grey and miserable there was not much wind so the seas were pretty calm, when we got to the end of the Fjord it was really misty and drizzly with visibility down to about a mile.  I thought the best option was to take the route close inshore down to Haugesund to avoid the bigger shipping in the grotty visibility, unfortunately they all seemed to want to use the same route so we had five different large ships passing less than half a mile from us, the AIS system we have on board is brilliant in these conditions.  The AIS picks up data transmissions from most big ships and our on-board navigation system calculates how close they are going to get and how long till they get there so it is much easier to make sure we all avoid each other.  Unfortunately a lot of boats do not have AIS such as most pleasure boats, smaller fishing boats and some others, so we still have to keep a sharp lookout for all these boats as well.

Next day we had about 30 miles to cover to get to Jorpeland, but first we had to go under the bridge in Haugesund, we are 20m high and the bridge was 22m and it always looks like we are never going to make it when you look up from the deck but we got through OK.  We did manage a couple of hours sailing on this bit instead of the usual chug chug from one engine or the other.  Jorpeland is a small town with a nice harbour and a large shopping centre to stock up with supplies.

Saturday we were heading up one of Norway’s most well know attractions, Pulpit Rock or Priekestolen (look it up on the Internet) so we were hoping for nice weather but it was grey and cloudy with the forecast saying it should clear up later.  We caught the 0900 bus and set off with backpacks for the hike up to Pulpit Rock at 605m above Sea Level, the start at the car park is 300m above SL so it is a long way up.  The guide books tell you it is a 2hr hike with some steep climbs and some more level sections – they are a bit economical with the truth!!!  It is a hard hike with some very steep scrambles over very rocky ground up stream beds and around cliff edges, definitely needing boots yet a few people we saw were wearing little more than ballet shoes!!!  The grey skies and low cloud were a bit of a blessing because it kept the temperature down and it also meant you couldn’t really see how high and steep the path in front was – it would have been very hard work on a hot summers day.

Intrepid Adventurers on the Edge of Pulpit Rock	The View over Lysefjord from Near the Top

The low cloud meant we did not have the best of views from the top but it was still worth the strenuous walk to get there, the cloud started clearing as we headed down and the views were amazing over the fjord and surrounding mountains.  Going down was almost as hard as the climb up, the steep rocky sections were slippery and dangerous if you didn’t take your time.  Even worse was the people coming the other way because it is a very narrow track so passing on some sections is not easy, especially when some people are not going to stop for anyone or anything.  It was not too busy while we were there, it really would be chaos in the peak summer season with hundreds of people on the track.

We all made it safe and sound apart from some sharp words from the girls because we headed off to the top without waiting for them, we didn’t make the same mistake on the way down!!  We got back on the bus and headed back to the boat just as the skies cleared properly and the sun came out – typical.

We set off as soon as we got back on board heading up the Lysefjord to Lysebotn right at the top end of the fjord.  Lysefjord is about 20 miles long and very narrow with sheer cliffs reaching up to 1000m high in some places.  We passed underneath Pulpit Rock on our way up the fjord and it is an awful long way up when you are sailing under it.  Towards the top of the fjord are the Kjerag cliffs at over 1000m high with a rock called Kjeragbolten wedged in a gap between two cliffs right at the top, we could just about see it from the bottom.  As we headed past the cliffs we saw some parachutists and realised that a group of base jumpers were actually jumping off the top of the cliffs – it was enough to make you feel faint just watching them.

We got to Lysebotn and found out that it was a 4 day festival for base jumpers from all over the world, we spoke to an American and a Kiwi, they had organised a helicopter to ferry them up to the top instead of having to hike there.  The next day Richard did hike (more training) all the way up to where they were jumping from and he said it was quite amazing up there, especially the people wanting to stand on top of the wedged rock Kjeragbolten (Google it!), it took him about 7hrs round trip but the rest of us decided we needed to stay and look after the boat, after all we are not climbing Kilimanjaro.

Pulpit Rock From Below	Looking up Lysefjord to Lysebotn

All too soon, it seemed, we needed to head to Stavanger for Caroline and Richard to catch their flights home.  We headed back down the Lysefjord and it was just as impressive as going up, the sun shone again so the light was perfect.  Managed a bit more sailing towards Stavanger, but the last hour the wind really picked up to well over 20knts gusting towards 30knts as Stavanger Harbour came into sight.  It is a very busy harbour, we had over 70 ships showing on our AIS tracker, with ferries, cargo boats, oil rig support and huge cruise liners all using the harbour.  We looked into the first Guest Harbour area and decided it was not really made for catamarans so we headed round to the Guest area in the main Harbour area (Vagen) and tied up behind Grand Mistral, a 800ft cruise liner.  We were right in the middle of the main bar and restaurant area and there was also an international beach volleyball tournament taking place alongside the harbour, Rich and I did check out the skills of a couple of the ladies teams.

Rich and Caroline Just Leaving	Captain Chris and Admiral Sue, Stavanger

Our last night together was a trip to a local Thai Restaurant courtesy of Rich and Caroline followed by a few drinks on the back of the boat people watching Stavanger at night.  Lots of people about even for a Monday night.  Up early next day for Rich and Caroline to catch the 0630 bus to the airport, the week had gone so quickly it seemed like they had only just arrived. 

After the hectic week with Rich and Caroline we have now slowed down and are just pottering around in the Islands and Fjords to the North East of Stavanger, collectively known as Ryfylke.  We are going to spend a few days here because the weather forecast at the moment is predicting mainly Southerly quadrant winds and we want to head South – what a surprise.  Anyway there is plenty to see and do in this area so we are not too worried.  It seems that the south of Norway is the main holiday area for the Norwegians and prices go up even higher than normal – yikes, it is bad enough at “normal” prices, so we might just visit a few places down the coast before heading across to Sweden.

Hi all Sue here

As Chris has said our week with my sister and hubby passed all too quick, it was lovely having them on board and we all had a great time. Much eating and drinking was done as you can imagine!!

Our hike up pulpit rock was very challenging more so as the men had gone on ahead complete with rucksacks containing all the food and drink!! I don’t know what we must have looked like to other well equipped hikers, Caroline with her little handbag containing her camera and me with a small bottle of water!! As the hike got steeper and more difficult there was much muttering done about caring husbands!! The worst thing was we kept imagining them sitting on the top eating all our lovingly prepared ham rolls!! Fortunately for them they did wait for us to get there before starting on the food, although Chris did admit later they had given it some thought as they were starving when they got to the top. The descent down was just as hard and in a few places it was easier to slide down the bigger bolders on your bum. When you have short legs you have to resort to other means at times!! I must admit it was well worth the climb but don’t feel the need to do it again!!

Lyseffiord was amazing and we sailed past Pulpit rock, I couldn’t believe how high it was and to think I had sat up there with my legs dangling over the edge, foolish woman!! Then further down the ffiordd we saw the base jumpers, they have got to be quite mad. We got talking to a few of them later, Americans, who told us base jumping is banned in America and so they have to come to Norway to do it.

Stavanger was very busy and buzzing with life, it made a change from the peace and quiet of the ffiords. It’s just a shame it is so expensive here, £6 for half a lager which isn’t even decent lager and if you go for a meal in a restaurant a main meal is around £25 and a bottle of wine £30. I must admit that is one thing I miss here not being able to just go to the pub and socialise. Look out everyone, when I get back it will be party time!!

So far we seem to be the only English boat here and definitely the only catamaran. There’s a lot of Polish sailing boats here but the Norwegians seem to favour power boats. We have been told as we head to Sweden and Denmark we will come across more English boats. We can only pick up Norwegian radio and I’m finding myself singing along to some of their adverts, very worrying especially as I have no idea what they are about!! One is to the tune of “old macdonald had a farm”.

We are on our way to Sauda now which is meant to be quite a busy place and has a couple of large waterfalls which Chris wants to walk up, can’t wait!! At least he might walk with me this time, perhaps I should carry the food.

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.