BLUEMOMENT

wully wrote:Catching rain water must be a plan fraught with success in Scotland...

Haw Wully - given yer sunburnt personage, and yet current rehydrating with beer, wid ye like tae reconsider? If I was ankurred at the burnt isles waitin for the death bug to disappear, id be an entry for best dried arrangement by noo.

Nick wrote:.
I think those slow to shut down now will come in for severe criticism when this first spike gets out of hand.

Which it is going to. .....

According to some commentators on the radio this morning we have come out to early, we still have too high a daily infection rate, the R number is still too close to 1, the beaches near Mallaig are mobbed, camper vans out in force staying overnight. It's interesting that Korea, often held up asa model of success has had to close schools. What happened to the governments number / traffic light warning system? It was commented on that it is still at 4 yet now the UK government is talking about moving to the next stage. I am not is sure how this will work out. If a country as disciplined as Korea has to reintroduce aspects of lockdown, the generally indisciplined of the UK have a high probability of kick starting it again.

In my town it is a normal sunny Saturday, massed motorbikes, cars cruising and pink bodies heaving. We are doomed!

If wully is right, then it'll soon start pishin doon and all the wobbly pink flesh and corned-beef legs will be back in front of the telly. Problem solved.

Burst Boiler wrote:If wully is right, then it'll soon start pishin doon and all the wobbly pink flesh and corned-beef legs will be back in front of the telly. Problem solved.

If I'm allowed on my boat this year I don't give a shyte what the weather is doing, even if I can't sail, or I'll get wet if I do, I'm going to get afloat.

Oh, my wobbly pink flesh is still wobbly, but is now brown. Taps Aff.

I'm sorry - the weather is about to revert to the usual pish. It's all my fault. Marisca is once again afloat!
JWD banned me from the launch area, something Dom has been trying to do to me for years - I reckon he really needs my helpful input(!), the mast is up and the rigging has commenced. The decks are filthy as is the inside so a bit of pressure washing and Flash is in order. I reckon Friday is when she'll be ready to sail.
And that brings me back to the question of whether I am justified in travelling to the boat to go for day sails. It's a tad more than 5 miles but a lot less than Dominic Cumming's trip. I have sufficient fuel in the car for return trips and my bladder is up to the journey length. I shall be alone throughout (aaaww!). But then a couple who went for a walk up a mountain today have been nicked by the constabulary though they apparently needed help. I don't know which way the Covid potential works between Inverclyde and Lothian, both are high, but I don't plan to go anywhere other than the car and boat, no shopping, no socialising, no wandering.
The wave of pleasure that came over me when I motored the short distance to her berth was palpable. I expect actual sailing would be a total joy. Is mental health a good excuse?

This is a good question that I've also been chewing over. I've not launched yet, but whether I can justifiably drive an hour there and an hour back for a day sail will influence whether I do launch or not, at least for now. I think if you go out, get into trouble and require assistance from official bodies, you might get a similar sanction to the hillwalkers. If you go out and have no problems, there is also the issue of optics (even without ais) - and a potential for backlash of the "no way do all those yachties sailing about live in Greenock/kip/largs/helensburgh. Which could cause those that do live within 5 miles losing their access too. I think officially the answer is no, but if you are sensible and discrete in choice of where you do your pootling about, then I doubt there would be any practical issues. I think its more a question if conscience and whether the nagging doubt would actually undo a lot of the enjoyment. Although for some, the thought of being naughty would add to the pleasure. My personal view is I'm not going to go sailing until I can stay overnight, but might drive and get ready for launch before that.

Confession time. We live 6 miles from our winter boatyard so on Sunday, we went antifouling. First visit since late March. I don't remember leaving such a mess but that's often the way theses days.

The yard was only offering launch to nearby residents. I didn't ask what the criterion is exactly but we met the terms. Launched Monday soon after midday. Lovely sail to the mooring, 10 minutes walk from home, so I think I'm covered for day sails now. Then it pi$$ed down Tuesday and today's a bit windy plus other activities already arranged so next trip may not be till the weekend.

It's ironic that last year, questions were asked about a few boats in the Mooring Assn that didn't use their mooring. This year it looks like half won't make it. I heard that Crown Estate plan to review their fees in September; they may waive them if the mooring hasn't been used. That's far from certain at the moment though.

Derek

I have difficulty in seeing the difference in a local twisting their ankle and someone from 60 miles away doing it. Similarly my place of residence has no effect on my idiocies on the boat.
Neither breach Nicola's crowds in beauty spots warning.
Anyhoo the diesel leak I fixed in the shed is now worse! Back to grovelling in the innards.

At this stage of things, we are gong to see a background of continued fall in new cases generally, but with localised bursts of new infections. The long incubation period and the role of infectious asymptomatic carriers means these bursts exist before they are identified.

The tactics to deal with this in the track and trace (track and protect in Scotland) phase are more effective when travel is limited. Firstly, the localised outbreaks become less local (or become a series of different local outbreaks) the more people travel, and the effectiveness of contact tracing is also lessened as it gets harder to track down all the potential contacts someone has had the more they have travelled.

Its the unintentional contacts with people and surfaces (either picking up or passing the infection) that are the problem, which occur when things don't go to plan. We fully intend not to meet anyone, until we get a double puncture and need to call the AA etc. Unlikely I know, but these things will happen to someone in the coming weeks and months. But probably on a rare enough basis to not materially increase R.

Boat is now on Ashton mooring. Shuttled car and bike to avoid public transport, used Avon to get ashore. Good news is I can still get on and off the boat into dinghy, outboard works, and the bad side is the burgeoning ecosystem developing on my mooring junk has been given its marching orders.
Quite a few boats were drifting about but only a couple on AIS. Roll on Phase 3!

Boat is now launched and alongside at Kip. The move to Craobh will likely have to wait until Phase 3.

The mental calm that comes from just a short sail is such a relief. If you can get out, do it.

marisca wrote:The mental calm that comes from just a short sail is such a relief. If you can get out, do it.

I 100% agree.

I hope to go for a long sail soon.

Maybe I could get somat cheap in Whitby for the £4K I was going to spend on a Flotilla holiday in Greece.

Launching booked for 16th.
Hopefully by about August I might be away to about Cape Wrath or thereabouts. Back for Christmas!