BLUEMOMENT

We took the old thing for a test sail today, and more or less everything seems to be working. Weather for a trip to Inverness not propitious for a few days but maybe later in the week. We could even be on our new mooring before the month is out.

Want to borrow a liferaft?

Mibbies see you in Peterheid on Friday if you happen to be in by.

I hope to be there if I'm nae snawed in!

marisca wrote:Want to borrow a liferaft?

We have a very nice one already, thanks. It lives in a nice low-profile container so is unlikely to be washed off the deck in the (improbable) event that we ship a green one. In the last resort, I understand there are usually one or two spare liferafts bobbing about off the Moray coast if required?

Good sailing!

Rowana wrote:Mibbies see you in Peterheid on Friday if you happen to be in by.

Ay, well the current plan is probably to leave the Forth on Thursday and if all goes smoothly be in Inversneckie on Saturday. If we stop in Peterheid that will mean there has been a disturbance in the force. My co-owner Ian is skipper for Edinburgh-Inverness so I have only limited influence over these decisions. We will see what we will see.

Bon Voyage............wave as you pass.
If the wind slips round a bit to the east it could be a good passage: still roaring out of the NE last night.
Good luck

Having done this trip more often than the crew would like to remember - apparently one of last year's mob still wakes up with cold sweats - may I counsel you against setting off just 'cos Eileen is demanding ever more money. Last year's voyage started with an afternoon's sunny spinnaker run sipping kir and ended with a full gale and blizzard at Clachnaharry but Eileen didnae get another penny out of me! A midnight start is propitious 'cos it gets you to the sea lock when it is open, similarly leaving on the ebb gets you in on the flood - you'll be lucky if the two coincide.
Don't forget to take your bus pass!

Well, we put into Peterhead on Friday having had to hand steer since the Autohelm failed off St Monance on Thursday evening. Turned out that the rudder reference sensor linkage had fallen off, and all that was required was a cunningly twisted cable tie to hold it together. The boat is now in Lossiemouth and should be in Telford's marvellous ditch by Monday. Unfortunately I have to be at work on Monday, so rather than risk having to find my way from a slightly remote Moray port to Auld Reekie, on a Sunday, I jumped ship at Peterhead and left my co-owner and our fine crew to do the job.

The offer of a liferaft was very kind, but Cherry Ripe doesn't need one. Instead she just gets towed around by the RNLI when the motor doesn't work. In the latest instance we were towed 25 miles into Sneck Marina, against a very splashy SW force 6, by the Invergordon lifeboat. Still, she is at least delivered.