With Vagabond safely tucked up on shore, on her trailer hiding under her tarpaulin* but about 400 miles away, I had to go and support the Swallow Boats stand to get a mid winter** "fix".
Fortunately Matt*** had brought "the company" BC23 to the show, so the fix was more than adequate. I prattled on about how great the boat was and what I was doing with Vagabond, vaguely hoping to get a few more followers to get this blog going viral (fat chance you all say..) and generally enjoyed myself.
And then there was the retail experience. No, I didn't buy some enormous white plastic thingy (with a sort of Royal title) that drinks more diesel in an hour than my old house boiler used to in a year. Vagabond now has (when I get to deliver them), two splendid mooring warps**** from English Braids (EB had sent someone to the GXSA and given us a good talk on ropes and the quality thereof) and I bought myself a floating waterproof portable GPS DCS VHF (that's a radio that knows where it is and can tell the emergency services). I'd realised that, in the event of a capsize ***** (Heaven fore fend), although my "fitted" radio would still work (being in the cabin and all), the aerial would be under water, so the only reception would be by suitably equipped fish or other under sea denizens (including, perhaps, a passing submarine of one Navy or another).
This purchase was funded by the generous contributions of the Banker, the Irish Lass and the long suffering Owners agent. Thank you all, you know who you are.....
I've also been given the matter of my survival some thought, in the event of the aforementioned inverted boat situation.
The rotten weather we have been having recently must be affecting my outlook. It's either that or the notes that I have received from the organisers of Sail Caledonia telling me that the water of the freshwater lochs of the Caledonian Canal (Loch Ness, being one of them) are VERY COLD, for it has occurred to me that it will be a good thing to have a radio that floats and works when it's wet but, should you have to make use of it, (like in the face of an ongoing IBS ), it would be a good plan to be able to stay vaguely alive long enough for the emergency services to turn up.
So I've bought a "survival suit". and here is a picture of me wearing it.
Now I know that it's not the latest fashion (unless "industrial" or "official" are new styles) and that I'll never have a career as a model but it does seem quite warm and it does have some built in buoyancy. As someone said to me last week: "It's made of boil in the bag material", so I assume that it's not "breathable". All it needs now is my name and title stencilled on the front and the boat name stencilled on the back and it will look very official.
I can see a strong demand for showers and washing machines coming up - the snag is these might be in short supply in the North of Scotland ******.
That's enough for now - I'm off to London with the Owners Agent to collect the Cabin boy and Cabin Girl whilst the Banker and the Dublin Lass have a lovely time in some posh French ski resort.....
Notes, explanations, translations and apologies
* The herbalist reported this to be the true state just before Christmas.
** Well, almost. Lot's of getting into and out of a BC 23 whilst extolling the virtues of one. Sadly, no sailing.
*** Designer for, and owner of, Swallow Boats
**** Longish Ropes with a loop at one end
***** This is where the wind blows the boat over and is usually the result of the helmsman not paying enough attention to the weather conditions or has been pressed to sail in unsuitable conditions because the on board crew has to be a certain port at a certain time to catch a train or plane to go home and it's Sunday and there are no buses......
****** I'm not implying that the inhabitants of Caithness and Sutherland wash neither themselves nor their clothes, it's just that there are not that many people about "up there" and not many places where these facilities may be available to "johnny foreigner" (or any other visitor).
