Sail Caledonia finishes

It's Saturday 31st May. 

Vagabond and I completed the transit through the Caledonian Canal with Sail Caledonia yesterday and left the rest of the fleet to their final race (and party*) whilst I head south for another party and Vagabond rests in the new marina at Inverness. Both of us have bumps and bruises that need attention.

We'll meet again next week.

Sail Caledonia was exhausting and I can only remember some highlights:

- A cascade of sleet, hail and rain whilst negotiating the Sea Lock at Corpach, followed by wearing my wet clothes dry in the heat of the bar in Ros Crannach (one of the support vessels)

- Motoring along the canal in bright, warm sunshine whilst the real contestants rowed and a white streaked Ben Nevis loomed in the back ground

- Bluebells, gorse, hawthorn, elderflower and broom blooming along the banks of the canal

- Locks crammed with the fleet as we rose up Neptunes staircase

- Sailing and rowing races (fortunately, Vagabond has neither rowlocks nor oars, so Freddie took the strain)

- Descending into Loch Ness at Fort Augustus, followed by fish and chips, beer and a hangover

- A race to windward up half the length of Loch Ness ( 35 tacks, according to the GPS) in which Vagabond romped through the fleet, only to lose out to another Swallow boat after I had decided to play safe by taking in one reef (there was a long gust at 24 Kn true wind and I didn't want to get my temporary home wet)

- the creation of a mini harbour by the two large support boats so that the fleet could shelter on an unprotected pier

- Following the very light wind round in a complete circle on the next day!

- The sound of the bag pipes welcoming us "home" at the end of each days activites

- The wide variation of boat size (from 12 ft to 25ft)

- The courage and determination of all, particularly the guys sailing (and rowing) the small boats on the unpredictable Loch Ness

- catching a rope round the propeller that jammed both Freddie and the steering whilst approaching a lock at far too high a velocity....

- and, finally, the apparent unflappability of the organisers.

If you search for the Sail Caledonia facebook page you'll lots of photos - even some of Vagabond.

 *Written on the sleeper from Inverness and I can't spell Ceilidh at this time of night.

Photo's so far

The crew at Balvicar

At Dunstafnage

On the way up Loch Linnie

Sunset over Loch Linnie

Is the buoy safely secured?

On the buoy at Fort William

The fleet assembles

The beginning - the sea lock at Corpach

Somewhere on Neptunes staircase

Sails, snow and Loch Lochy

Another lock

French men on Loch Ness

No wind on Loch Ness

Irish Oarsmen at work

Spring on the canal side

The end - the sea lock at Clachnaharry

Half way up Loch Ness

My regular reader might be wondering what's happened in the last few days. Well, we've been rather busy and there hasn't been much internet access either. This means that there are still no photos in this blog but if you go to the sail caledonia web site, you'll see loads. *

I left you wondering (with bated breath, no doubt) about the equipment breakages on the way up to Fort William - as we had approached the narrows at Corran, the wind increased to about 22 knot and the boat was becoming difficult to control. The jib had to be rolled up (taking a reef on the main would have taken too long). The snag is that it wouldn't fully roll up, so we went through the narrows with the jib flapping violently and shaking the whole boat. Having forced the narrows, I was able to lower the jib and then noticed that one of the shrouds ** was flapping in the breeze. The pin on it's shackle had come undone and been lost. 

Down came the main (fortunately before the mast broke) and on came Freddy to take us up to the mooring outside the Lochaber Yacht Club.

There's be no more sailing until the shackle had been fixed.

The next morning, I walked the streets of Fort William looking for a chandlers. There was none. 'The nearest is in Mallaig and it's 40 miles away - but there is a train', said one helpful local. I returned to the yacht club, where I met Hamish, one of the key officials. 'I think I've one of those in my spares box, I'll look for you when I get home.'

Sure enough, next morning he turned up with a suitable spare and Vagabond was soon back in business. It was a good thing too, suddenly there were trailers and boats everywhere as the 20 or so taking part in Sail Caledonia arrived. We were off, a race to the sea locks at the beginning of the canal and our introduction to the art of getting all 22 entrants and the multitude of support boats into a lock at once. We began the ascent.....

 * their suppport staff cen get in a car to find a connection!

**a rope that holds up the mast 

Fort William (1)

I am sure you will rember that there would be photos in this instalment.  Sadly, you will have to wait until I can find a faster internet connection: in the meantime you will have to be content with my prose. Indeed, you may have to be content with prose for the rest of this trip; my camera has "done a runner". Either I have put it away in such a cunning place that I can't immediately locate, or (more likely) I have left it somewhere. I could, I suppose use the phone....

Nonethe less, I am pleased to report that we're almost on plan. The crew has departed to the south, exchanging the Scottish Highlands for the wineries of Portugal and Spain and Vagabond and I are bouncing to buoy off the yacht club in Fort William, ready to join Sail Caledonia after a few necessary tomorrow.  

But it was a close run thing.

I'd left you all bouncing to a different buoy off an un-named hotel in a north facing gat just south of Ballachulish. We returned to Vagabond, after a delightfull evening meal in the Holleytree hotel to find that the wind had changed in an unforecasted way. It was now from the north, right into our shelter. The dinghy ride was interesting and we boarded Vagabond with some difficulty before spending a noisy and boisterous night. 

We set off to go to the north east, up towards Fort William. We didn't even get as far as the Corran Ferry narrows. The wind reach 25 knots and stayed there for several hours. After an hour motoring into it (in a vain attempt to catch the tide at the narrows), I gave up and we turned east into Loch Leven, under the Ballachulish bridge into the Bishops Pool, a delightful pool, surrounded on two and a bit sides by steep, wooded hills. In the other directions was a view of the loch and the forbidding, snow covered* mountains of Glen Coe.

We found a buoy of dubious heritage, with it's slimy mooring rope the home to long strands of kelp, numerous small fish and an angry shrimp. There was no wind to speak of, and little tide so it seemed safe enough. Meanwhile the gale blew through the woods. Bluebell still carpeted the floor; gorse, rhododendrons, azaleas  and elders bloomed in the clearings. We were there until the wind died down.

But there was a problem. The crew had to be at Fort William to catch a train on the following morning and Vagabond had to be there too, admittedly a day later, to catch the Sail Caledonia "raid". We adjourned to a local hostelry to consult taxi companies and bus timetables. A bus was selected. Tide table were also consulted and I found that if Vagabond and I left our pool at about 9 o'clock the following morning we'd catch the last of the ebb** to get out of Loch Leven and the first of the flood*** to get through the Corran narrows. 

Perfect!

So, after another pub meal we retired to bed, to wake the following morning to find the wind had dropped - a bit. 

The crew and her bags were put ashore, Vagabond was made ship shape, the main hoisted (with one cautious reef), the buoy dropped and we were off. 

Read all about our thrilling  adventures, how the jib repeated the Liverpool bay trick just as we approached the narrowest point and a lost shackle pin nearly caused a major incident, in the next edition!

* Well, in the gullies.

** The outgoing tide

*** The incoming tide

We're off!

Gentle, loyal reader, your will be delighted to know that Vagabond is now happily afloat and has shaken  the slate dust off her decks (Balvicar and the Isle of Seil being entirely constructed out of the stuff). She is now moored to a buoy off King***** Hotel just south of Balachulish whilst my crew * and I have a rest. We spent Monday morning rigging her - as always it took longer than I thought and we missed the tide to launch her. So it was early on Tuesday that we launched her. She was a bit reluctant to leave her trailer, but a few runs (in reverse) down the ramp, followed by sharp braking, allowed the laws of physics to prise her free and she was afloat! 

We sailed south to the Cuan sound and had to wander about in Loch ?? to wait for the tide to turn. It was the only sailing we did that day, as the wind dropped when we reached the Firth of Lorne and we had to rely on Freddie to reach Dunstaffnidge by 19:30. After some hassle, we were able to get the important key to the loos and, after some amazing Scallops and Black  pudding at the Frog, we retired for the night. It was prescient of us to put the tent over the cockpit before turning before turning it in because it threw it down overnight and we awoke to gray skies and the promise of more rain. 

We turned north east anayway, to find a 14 knot wind from the South West. Vagabond flew along. At one point 7 knots was noticed on the GPS. We reached our destination in just over 4 hours. To add to the day, the rain held off and we were in sunshine for most of the way. We anchored of the hotel, rolling  uncomfortably in the swell. We went ashore to have a welcome swim before dinner. The forecast says the wind will drop later on this evening.

Photos to follow.

* Regular readers will know of my view about crew. My daughter (who currently lives in Nova Scotia) had timed her visit to Europe to crew with me for a few days. She was not to be refused!!

Not long now.

Three days from now, Vagabond's keel should be tasting salt water again and, on the following day, we'll  be off to the North East for Fort William and Sail Caledonia. The forecast weather for the forthcoming week is for rain (varying between light and heavy) and the wind, of course, from the North East.