Saturday 20 July 2013

Blog catch up

Sorry for the delay the daly blogs are now below. Unfortunately in the excitement of Tobermory and sleeping on deck the girls forgot to write Fridays blog. A shame to see them leave this morning they were a very special bunch of young ladies.

Sunday

There was a good atmosphere on Sunday morning as the sun was out and the sea was calm. However, morale dropped when the boat refused to move forwards. There were some who suggested we just reverse all the way to the Isle of Man, but after an hour of messing with the engine the boat moved forwards. We waved goodbye to the Piel Island seals and headed out to the numerous wind farms. This journey took a while as Sarah struggled to steer in the right direction and practically managed to write her name in the wake. We were fortunate to catch a brief glimpse of a dolphin.

On arrival in Ramsey, the dingy was lowered and the outboard motor set up. Everyone was excited to set foot on shore and invade the quiet streets of the Isle of Man in search of food. Unfortunately, the adventure did not start for half an hour. After much pulling, the motor started and we raced ashore only to find Ramsey a ghost town. Not one shop was open. Flora sprinted to the other end of the town and screamed with a great excitement ‘The Co-Op is open!!!’ Minutes passed as we ransacked the stock of the shop, especially the sweet and chocolate aisle. On the way back to the dinghy, Flora realised that her bandana was missing! She repeated her sprint, dragging Pippa along with her, and was lucky enough to find it. The night ended with a chocolate fondue and an early bedtime, as we were sailing at 4am the next morning.

By the Odds and Sods (Sarah, Gabby and Flora)

 

Monday

This morning we had an early start at 3 45 to leave before the tide went out, some were better at getting up than others. The sea was as flat as a pancake, most of us sat on deck and watched the spectacular sunrise. We saw some more dolphins. There was even a seal with a fish in its mouth trying to fend off seagulls.

 We started playing a new game of murder and people are dropping like flies, four have been murdered in one day. After battling through the currents and dodging the rocks we arrived at the island of Sanda where some swam and some had a dinghy ride to shore then spent the afternoon exploring the island. Another early start tomorrow.

The Old Girls

Tuesday

Today we set off for port Ellen with another early start, however the wind was not in our favour-again! A thought provoking game of charades keep the team awake till what felt like lunchtime, sadly not! Thankfully, the sun was shining for most of the afternoon. Some of the team were lucky enough to witness a school of dolphins. After turning the power off to prevent crossing paths with a ferry heading for Ireland, we arrived at Port Ellen mid afternoon. All of the team went ashore to de-salt hair at the local hotel. Everyone took advantage of the complementary shampoos’. The ell’ of a team went to buy a net for what turned out to be a very successful crabbing trip-until Mr. Beard and his Spanish influences tried to cook them! The odds’ and sods’ made a fantastic turkey curry for tea, well done guys!!! Mary entertained the village with a spectacular Irish dancing performance despite being in Scotland!! However, Pippa still believes she is superior!!! Much to our relief, we have a later start tomorrow being able to stop at an island for lunch, if the wind is with us. Fingers crossed!!

The ell’ of a team (Briony, Pippa and Jess)

Wednesday

We are now half way through the journey and we have all started to adopt different accents. There is a mixture of different ones, including Scottish, Scouse, Jamaican, Irish and of course BURNLEY (Charlotte). We set of later than planned as everyone was trying to get ready, ie. Briony with her rollers. After much trouble caused by the infamous strawberry milk we headed north to Eilean Mor. The views we captured were breathtaking including the towering heights of Jura and Islay. By midday the sun was scorching down onto the deck and more than one crew member took the opportunity to work on their tan and catch up on some much deserved beauty sleep. Meanwhile  Mr Beard (Sir John) also tried to do so , but he was frequently disturbed by the adventurous steering from Charlotte and Flora and the screams erupting from the card games being played. Finally we arrived to where we were to anchor however; even the muscle of Mr.Beard and Karen couldn’t clear the jammed chain. After much effort, dinner was served and as we ate we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a basking shark! All girls scurried across the island to get a closer look. There were many places to explore such as the bothy, the chapel and a hermit’s cave, which Charlotte managed to, get stuck in and needed Mr. Beard muscular power again to pull her out. Overall it was a great day! J

The Odds and Sods

Thursday

After an eggy bread breakfast, we set off to the Isle of Seil.  Unfortunately we could only see 100 metres ahead of us as the fog was so thick. The fog kept lifting and sinking so we didn’t know whether we would be able to carry on sailing, nevertheless we ploughed on through.  All was going well until we heard the sound of an engine not too far away.  This was quickly followed by the sound of a foghorn.  Luckily, the radar showed that the ferry was in fact going the same way as us so we wouldn’t collide.  We had baked potatoes for lunch followed by digestive biscuits.

                Once we arrived and anchored at Seil Island, we lowered the dingy and clamoured in.  We made the mistake of allowing Flora to row the dingy and we visited almost every boat in the dock.  Eventually we reached the island and explored.  We found a pub, a souvenir shop and a supermarket that was “just down the road” (about 3 miles).  It was a rush to get back in time but we just about made it.  After stocking up with more food we headed back to the boat to make flapjack.

THE OLD GIRLS

                                                            

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