Long hard last day.

Anchored back in the beautiful town of Millport, all crew members enjoy a well earned rest after our hardest day yet. Today has been eventful to say the least.

After a good kip moored in East Loch Tarbert, all hands were on deck by 9:00, moorings ready to be slipped. Skipper Ian skilfully helmed the boat through the narrow channel that lead us back into larger waters. Soon enough, the mizzen, main and headsail were hoisted fully and the boat made good way, everyone was huddled in the cockpit, sheltering well away from the high winds in which we found ourselves. Our rest was halted as there was a loud bang from the port beam and the headsail began to waver in a menacing manner. A pulley, integral to the workings of the headsail, had been bent and twisted until it could hold no more! The 15-20+ knot winds had proved very over powering to our humble vessel. A quick and well handled tack ensured that no more strain was put on our magnificent ship. Skipper Ian moved downstairs and left Tenacity in the hands of Peter Mackin. We made good progress upwind and, with around 5 knots of boatspeed twinned with some skilfull helming, managed to dodge the many treacherous and endangering lobsterpots, laid down by some sly fishermen. Hiren Patel was the first to fall victim to sea sickness, however, he kept it down like a man and fought with valiance.

After Peter had guided tenacity into some sheltered waters, the entrance to another loch, and the crew had rapidly (apart from Abhinav) devoured a sausage butty, Alex Johnson took the helm and steered our vessel downwind in the more benign but still gusty waters. Progress was smooth and with a short beat, including a seemingly endless stream of tacks, destroying the progress of the two Hestons downstairs (Sam and Will), we arrived at our beautiful and picturesque lunch spot. Both Hestons provided the crew with a well deserved hearty meal, despite once again disregarding a fellow crew member and leaving him to starve in the wilderness.

Next upon the helm was Abhinav, who motor-sailed Tenacity up the final lengths of the beautiful loch, surrounded by the all encompassing beauty of the Isle of Bute. Our passage was plagued with big changes in wind direction, causing the ship and crew to be shaken and stirred. That was not the end of our misfortune. The reefing system for the headsail had once again failed and immense strain was put upon the enduring crew in order to get the system to work. Abhinav stayed at the helm all the way to Millport and shortly before entering the harbour put the boat through even more tacks, pushing the crew to the brink. These tasks were made infinitely easier by the incredibly fast hands of Sam Cordingley and Peter Mackin, who completed their task with vigour and determination. However even Sam couldn’t keep up with the blurry hands of Mackin.

 

Millport has once again proved an invaluable place of calm and solitude, where the crew of such a demanding vessel can rest and recover from their hard and invigorating days work.

Dinner was prepared once again by Sam and Will, who made use of the various spices kept on board to flavour their concoctions with copious amounts of chilli flakes. However, their twist on fish and (chilli) chips went down a treat and all the crew felt satisfied, not only by the laughter after observing the pair’s alternative cooking methods, including wills exuberant and extremely effective methods of crushing garlic. Both the Ians and the rest of the crew are now resting and enjoying a good chocolate cookie.

Abhinav and Peter