BLUEMOMENT

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I see there has been a post on the tumbleweed-infested Oban forum about the proposed new pontoon development.

HERE

Perhaps one or two of you might want to hie yourselves over there to provide that almost utterly lacking commodity, informed comment . . .

Don't know who McCaig is but he does have a point, we were in Kirkwall in Summer 2006 and it was indeed as he says.

Can I tell yez a wee story aboot some shenanigans in an' aroon' Oban? 'Cos it's late night, and ra tablets huvnae kicked in yet.....?:lol:

Anyway, to cut a long story short, about the end of a two-up 'assisted delivery' of a gentleman's sailing yacht from Cardiff to the Firth of Lorne, missing out the bits about losing the engine after 20 minutes on a 13 metre tide (coolant), making a 'gross navigational error' at Milford and going to Cork instead of turning right, making another 'GNE' after celebrating the Appointment of the new RCYC Admiral for 3 days and going southabout Ireland, losing the engine again at Bearhaven (rope), encountering a serious drugs drop off Achill Head, encountering the PIRA weekend cottages' minders at Sheephaven, losing the engine off Mull of Oa in a rising NW'ly (hydraulics) and short-tacking into Port Ellen sans chart and sans daylight, then - of course - the Sound of Luing sans engine and sans wind.....

We came to by the OSC quite late in the day, picked up an empty mooring for the night, and had another wee adventure in the morning, blowing really hard from SW again. As we prepared to drop the 4" diameter blue polyprop loop we'd dropped over the samson post last night, to go over to Kerrera, the blurry thing completely disintegrated like shredded wet tobacco. Close behind us was a double row of 'someone else's yots', and we were gathering sternway.....

John started fumbling with the main halyard.... Wrong! But the unfurling genoa did the right thing, in the nick of time.

After we'd sorted all that out, missed an innocent incoming ferry by, oh, just enough, and got back onto another empty mooring with chain this time, I made some breakfast and decided to ask about 'J's pre-planned arrangements for berthing.

"Oh, I haven't bothered" he innocently told me. "I'll just phone around and see what's available...."


There's a wee bit more to this, but perhaps I'll leave it for another time.

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to cut a long story short

Please don't - this trip sounds well worth a write-up or two.

Your writing style reminds me somewhat of Val Howells' in 'Up That Particular Creek' - a book I assume you have read?

Funny thing that

I picked up a boat in Cardiff last year.
Tested her out around Cardiff Bay, engine and sails etc, all seemed OK

Through the barrage at 7.00 am, got to the first buoy, the Ranee I think, and the engine stopped.

Ebb tide, easterly wind, managed to get the motor going for the midnight entry to Milford

Is this a Cardiff problem ?