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