The Whiskey Run
-
Howard [ Just Imagine ] 31-Dec-1969
Firth of Clyde
Colonsay
-
Howard [ Just Imagine ] 31-Dec-1969
Oban
Romadi, 1982
So we arrived engine-less in Oban after a swift run up the channel and tried our best to tack into customs dock in the SW corner of the bay.
In between deluging rain squalls, we would get on a nice tack, and approach the shore, but as soon as we got close to the cliffs, the wind would die, or veer and off we would go on the opposite tack.
The poor customs gentleman stood steadfast on the dock in his black mackintosh with his briefcase, through rain and shine waiting for us to come in.
After a many such attempts, a fast motor launch came to our aid and towed us alongside into the dock.
Customs clearance seemed to go off without a hitch, though the gentleman was a bit incredulous that we could have crossed the ocean in such a craft whose decks leaked like a sieve, resulting in our bed being soaking wet from the recent rains.
"Fine, fine, fine" said the customs man, but could we please come to their office the next day to collect our passports.
When we arrived at Her Majesty's Customs the next day, the gentleman said "fine, fine, fine" but they would just like to come down and take another quick look at our boat. So down they came, screwdrivers in hand and did a thorough search.
The customs man was accompanied by a very ample customs lady who decided to inspect under the lift up chart table. I volunteered to hook the folding chart table up to the bulkhead so that she had better access, but she preferred to rummage about with her flashlight with the chart table resting on her back.
With a whoop of delight, she emerged from under the chart table clutching a small ziplock bag, within which was yet another plastic bag containing a white powdery substance. She quickly opened the bags and took a deep sniff of the stuff which, to her great disappointment, turned out to be our only remaining baking flour.
The inner bag clearly said farinha, which is Portuguese for flour and it was double bagged just to try and keep the moisture out.
The customs man, having unscrewed and lifted the cabin sole of the fo'c'sle came out clutching a large wine jug with basket weaving on the outside, and asked why we had not declared that on entry. When I told him that the bottle was actually filled with water, he tipped it up and sure enough, water dripped from the old worn out cork. "Fine , fine, fine" he said and returned our passports and wished us a pleasant stay in Scotland.
Howard and Jayne [ Romadi ] 10-Aug-1982
Eigg
In 1982, Jayne and I delivered Romadi, a 28 foot 1949 Harrison Butler from Antigua to Eigg, for the owner who ran the tea room and guest house on the island.
We sailed via Bermuda, The Azores, Colonsay, and Oban before rounding Ardnamurchan and heading up to Eigg, arriving in August 1982.
We were doing the delivery on a shoe-string budget just for the experience and by the time we arrived in Scotland, our petty cash was quite depleted, and very few places took American Express. So to make ends meet, we ended up eating our emergency rations, which consisted mostly of cans of baked beans in the ring pull type cans. So in the last week or two we had baked beans just about every way you could think of preparing them.
When we finally arrived at our destination, after 51 sailing days across the ocean (not counting stops along the way) we met the owners and told them our stories, and they invited us into their tearoom for a monster brunch. We could not believe our eyes, when breakfast arrived, because, the monster brunch consisted of a couple of fried eggs and a few rashers of bacon perched on top of a mountain of, you guessed it, baked beans.
http://www.isleofeigg.org/travel/sailing.htmHoward and Jayne [ Romadi ] 12-Aug-1982
Great Horseshoe Bay (Anchorage)
www.flickr.com/Howard [ Just Imagine ] 03-May-2009
Orkney
www.orkneymarinas.co.ukHoward [ Just Imagine ] 03-May-2009
Eilach an Naomih (Garvellachs) (Anchorage)
westcoastboating.orgHoward [ Just Imagine ] 03-May-2009
Canna Harbour, Canna (Anchorage)
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/902429Howard [ Just Imagine ] 03-May-2009
Tinkers Hole (Erraid) (Anchorage)
Photo from geograph.org
westcoastboating.org
Translated from French by GoogleHoward [ Just Imagine ] 03-May-2009
Puilladobhrain Seil (Anchorage)
Translates as "Pool of the Otter". Popular anchorage with good shelter
Best holding at the northern end, close south-west of the little island; here the bottom is thick mud -- further up the pool, weed can sometimes be a problem.
from James.stobartHoward [ Just Imagine ] 03-May-2009
Arinagour, Coll (Anchorage)
Anchor in the small pool close north of Eilean Eatharna
Rent a bicycle
Howard [ Just Imagine ] 03-May-2009
Ullapool
Bull Hole (Mull) (Anchorage)
Aberdeen
Edinburgh
West Loch Tarbert, Jura (Anchorage)
Ardinamir, Luing
Gometra Harbour, Ulva/Gometra
Loch Scavaig, Skye (Anchorage)
Port Ellen, Isle of Islay (Town Dock)