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Time to sail to Wales
While we were having lunch in Douglas I spotted a wooden mast which needed further inspection. We strolled over to discover another Vertue! It was V25 with Richard Coates sitting in the sun in the cockpit. He kindly invited us on board his beautiful 1949 mahogany on oak Vertue. We chatted for a while and exchanged phone…
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The Isle of Man
What a friendly place! Everyone is so kind and relaxed. Yesterday we went to watch the motor bike road racing which looked pretty dangerous. We sat on a gate post at a road corner hoping no one was going to hit the cottage on the corner. It was a 4 mile walk from the boat…
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Port St Mary – Isle of Man
We’ve arrived after a fast but cold sail in a north west wind about force 4. There were patches of rain mainly falling on Jannicke’s watch which took some careful planning. The sail took 24hrs to cover 100 nm which is pretty good for Sumara. The harbour entrance is straightforward. We picked up an empty…
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Troon to St Mary’s – Isle of Man
It’s Monday mid-day and we have Ailsa Craig ahead on our starboard bow. It is a lovely island. The stone from Ailsa Craig is almost unique in that it does not absorb any water. That is why it is the choice of stone for curling. A set of blue granite curling stones from Ailsa Craig will…
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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 Final Leg – Arran to Troon
Poor Sumara was about a day behind the rest of the fleet but we were determined to finish. We had heard that about 13 yachts had retired and three did not start so although we were definitely going to be last at least we were going to finish! We had all booked tickets on the…
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Goat Fell
Sumara was so late arriving at Lamlash on Arran that the organisers had to leave so they asked us to time ourselves in and out. It was a hot day and we were not going to be running in the dark but we stuck to the rules and ran with the full kit including extra…
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The Mull of Kintyre
By now we knew we were the last boat to leave Jura for Arran. Barbara, who was one of the organisers had politely asked if we were still competing. “Of course we are” was Charlotte’s reply. To get to Lamlash on Arran we would have to round the Mull of Kintyre – a notorious headland…
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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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Rowing Past the Corryvreckan
I confess that we had been a little worried on-board the ship as the runners had taken longer than we expected. We knew one runner from another team had to be air lifted off, and we were much relieved when a text arrived from Charlotte saying they were on the road back. Once the tired,…