Category: Gear and Provisions
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Port St Mary to Aberystwyth
We reckoned the best time to leave would be 18:00 but the sun was out so we left at about 15:00 with a very gentle southerly breeze. The wind gradually veered to become a westerley generally around force 3-4 but with a couple of light patches which meant a few hours of motoring. We sailed…
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Single Handed Mast Climbing
Sadly my crew had to pull out at the very last moment from my planned sail to the Isle of Man due to work pressure. So I think the sail will have to be cancelled as I don’t really fancy walking in the Isle of Man by myself. While I am in Troon I will…
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The Paps of Jura
Having been sailing for 26 hours means you are not necessarily in tip top race condition at the start of the run but somehow the adrenalin kicks in and the energy comes from somewhere. Harris, from the nice yellow yacht in Dunstaffnage, had made us a specially decorated tub of nourishing energy giving food and…
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Fell Running and Invertors
You may be wondering what happened to my enthusiastic blog. It all started well with lots of posts and then it stopped just as it was going to get exciting. Well my first excuse was that the ship invertor stopped working – it just tripped the contact breaker. I decided against gaffer taping the breaker…
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Yippee, we’ve found a new runner!
Once John decided it was really out of the question him partaking in the Race with his chest infection we needed to find a replacement as soon as possible. Tim and Dan did sterling work putting the feelers out and we now have Rick Robson joining the team. Rick is an experienced fell runner although…
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Heavily Loaded
I seem to have put in two pictures, we certainly don’t have two Baby Blakes. I’m rubbish at this bloggy stuff but I’ll get the hang of it one day. Here is our kit list. I expect there is something crucial missing but even so when you multiply most of it by five you can imagine…
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Sheepsheads
Position N57,59 x W011. Wind force 5 – 6 South easterly. Last night we had pasta with reindeer meat balls. At least we hope they were reindeer meat balls and not reindeers balls. Come to think of it the reindeer on the can did have a surprised expression on his face. As the journey nears…
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Gearbox Stuffed
Position N61,32.2 x W016,11. Wind SW F3 and fading out. We have had a lovely sail this afternoon but the wind eventually died off. I started the engine but there was no thrust from the gearbox. I checked with Jim at Dunstaffnage and he thinks the cones must be worn out. With a blast of…
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Any mechanics out there? Dan?
This gearbox doesn’t feel right. I wonder if I have damaged it with the 15 minutes of motoring with the lever in the wrong poition. It is fine now but when you engage gear it seems to have no thrust, getting 1.5 knots at half revs. If you rev it up it seems to solve…
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En Route to St Kilda
Position N63,03.7 x W019,25.85 We completed our chores on Sunday morning and Gudrun and I climbed up Heimaklettur, a spectacular hill over looking the harbour and the south coast of Iceland. The weather was perfect and the whole island was smiling. After a swim and hot tub we returned to Sumara to clear customs. This…