English (UK) Silver Girl II in Scotland - Part 1 - Storm Amy
By Simon Hardy on Silver Girl II
We also wanted to cruise the west coast of Scotland as everyone extolled the beauty of the lochs to us. We set off in May via Aberdaron, Anglesey, Isle of Man then landed in Bonny Scotland on East Tarbert bay, south of Stranraer then up into the Clyde via every island and every loch. Our chart plotter track is like a kids etch a sketch, lines everywhere.
Ultimately because the racing calendar was super busy this year the season rolled on with me flying, bus-ing, train-ing, ferry-ing and drive-ing all over for various races leaving Silver Girl II bobbing about on her own or tied up to expensive bits of wood in marinas and harbours whilst I went off enjoying myself.
We got to the end of August and I knew time was running out to do the canal so I called stop to racing and concentrated on the cruising life.
Scotland is stunning, everyone was right. Comparing it isn’t that difficult. Wales for me is a 180 degree view as is Ireland, you see land on one side or in-front of you and then on the opposite side or behind you is the sea, you get the idea. Scotland in comparison is a 360 degree view, certainly in the lochs. Our chart plotter track is like a kids Etch a Sketch if anyone remembers that childhood toy, I’ve said this once already but it’s true.
What is challenging for a sailor here is the winds, they are very variable in both strength and direction with katabatic winds adding to the fun. We once tacked the boat and during the tack which was executed more or less well, the wind actually shifted by 90 degrees, it all went Pete Tong and we tacked back if my memory serves me right. You can be sailing nicely in a moderate 10 to 15kts then a gap in the scenery or a peninsular will send the wind up-to 25 or 35kts so you’re now way overpowered, healing and or rounding up, on our boat the volume goes up exponentially because I got it wrong !
We stoped in some lovely and some strange places;
East India Dock in Greenock being one, disused because Inverclyde council don’t know what to do with it.
Gareloch was interesting, that’s where Faslane the Nuclear submarine base is. Again Ken was with us and we were sailing North up the Loch. I could see the exclusion zone around the base so knew we needed to keep to the west side. As is always the case with sailing the wind wasn’t playing the game and we were getting close to the south west corner of the exclusion. Ken said “those cops in the boat are watching us you know, are you sure we are outside the zone” yes I said, look pointing at the plotter and the iPad with Navionics running. We were,… just, and I mean just, going to miss that corner unless the wind shifted any more. Anyway Boat Plod couldn’t resist and they came towards us. I could see one off them hurriedly donning his flack vest and machine gun and coming out on deck as the boat pulled along side us. We were on autopilot so I came out on deck to speak with them as they came alongside. Here we go !
He said, ‘You’re getting close to our exclusion zone did you know?’. ‘Yes I can see that on the plotter but we are sailing and as usual the wind isn’t playing ball.’
Then he said, ‘Where are you going?’. ‘Up the Loch! We are going to stop up there for the night.’
‘Well ok if you can just stay over on the west side then.’
Here it comes - wait for it ! I said ‘Yes don’t worry I’ll keep an eye on the situation and if Mr Wind doesn’t fart in the right direction, I’ll start the donkey up and waste a bit of dinosaur squeezing just like you lot did coming over here.’ I laughed and smiled.
The helm, I could see, burst out laughing and the guy at the back just took his machine gun and flack jacket off and said – ‘I’ll put that in the book.’
Ken Said, ‘That was probably the most they would do all day.’
We continued tacking up the lock with them more or less chaperoning us all the way up.
We later found out that if you see a tug and a police escort going up or down a loch it’s a sure sign that there actually is a sub there as they have to have a tug escort incase something goes wrong and the tug has to have armed protection.
On another outing the wind died as we were on the way from lunch in Tarbert towards Gourock. So I started the engine, it sounded terrible, so I went down and took a look. The engine water pump had run its bearings. Poo. So we turned it off and tried sailing. We were only just moving. I checked the plotter and could see a yacht coming up behind us at Toward point, I called him on 16 and after the pleasantries asked where he was heading. "Rhu." Bargain, he was going almost past where we were going. I told him our predicament and he offered a tow. Towed us all the way, fantastic. We offered him some money and a couple of bottles of wine but he wasn’t having any of it. He just said “one day I’ll need help and I hope some one helps me” we sent thanks to him via his sailing Club and suggested he be commended.
We did go back to Tarbert, where there is a tiny little anchorage with very strange mooring buoys provided, this is just to the north east of Tarbert marina, the entrance feels about 50meters wide and we were nearly bottom touching, thank god for a 3D depth sounder which gives some faith and ability to stay centre in a very narrow shallow channel.
Holy island east of Aron was a very quiet stop, not the sort off place you would expect a Buddhist monastery but yes that’s what is there.
Campbeltown, wow that was a blast. I was sailing in on reefed main and Genoa with about 30kts of wind coming down Kilbrannan sound, yes, a bit spicy but on reef 3 our boat is reasonably controllable. As I turned west into Campbletown loch just north of Davaar Island the wind went up to 46kts, well that’s not funny. Frantically taking in more sail whilst entering a narrow channel gets the adrenaline flowing. I anchored the boat on the south side of the loch in relatively calmer conditions.
Anyway, my racing season had to come to an end just before the James Eadie, which is one of my favourite races for a few reasons, like winning it but not crossing the finishing line! Another story.
We had Ken Grimson up with us for a few days cruising around Loch Craignish and the islands around Craobh Marina. It’s the second time Ken’s been up with us as the west coast of Scotland is his old stomping grounds and he knows them well.
So we headed north from the Mull of Kintyre via Gigha island, very similar in feel to Bardsey, up via a brief stop in Oban then up via Mull to Corpach, the start of the Caledonian Canal.
We entered the first lock after reading up on procedure and calling the lock staff to ask about fenders and lines. The advice was to keep all fenders high. Well that wasn’t the best advice because in the first chamber the fenders rolled up onto the deck and we scrapped the side of the lock, only a thumb size bit of gel but had I gone by my gut instinct it wouldn’t have happened. We moved 3 fenders, mid and one forward and one aft, to just above the water all other fenders 6 I think were left high and from that point onwards no problems. We also have a ball fender right at the bow and one right at the stern. They suggested port side too on the way up the canal so you only put a few on the stbd side just in case.
Your certainly thrown in at the deep end because, the World Heritage site, Neptunes Staircase of 8 locks is only after you’ve negotiated another 3 locks. It took us just around 4 hours to get from the Corpach to the top of Neptunes Staircase. This is about right as the Scottish Canals suggest about 3 and a half hours. There are hundreds of tourists there all watching, filming and many asking questions.
Of course we drew lots of attention as Buster, our African Grey Parrot is far more chatty when he can’t see us. He was whistling and making his various sounds and talking all the time except when I came in to drive us forward. He is out in the cockpit in his house when we are travelling.
There is a lot of motoring in the canals themselves and unfortunately in Loch Lochy and Loch Oich we didn’t have enough wind to sail. At the end of Loch Lochy there is the Eagle Inn which is a converted Barge, great food fantastic atmosphere and a sore head the following morning, they closed the following day, apparently they had reached the VAT threshold so no point staying open to loose 20% of the takings.
However after the next section of canal we reached Fort Augustus, which is one of very few populated parts of the whole canal, we stayed here a day or so and then took advantage of a descent south westerly to send us down wind up Loch Ness. Started off lovely in about 5 to 10kts but it died to around 5kts and our Genoa just flopped, so up went the cruising shoot. Half a mile on the wind went from just barely 5kts to 25kts instantly and before we had chance to react all hell broke loose and the cruising shoot decided to rip itself off the tack then actually snap the stainless steel loop on our little bow sprit. We eventually ended up turning up wind and getting the fekin thing down into the bow cabin. What a farce - anyway we don’t have to worry about a cruising shoot now, until we get it fixed.
We got to Inverness, the end of the Caledonian Canal, on the 7th day so we could stay in Seaport Marina for the 7th night, for free and everyone likes free! I haven’t mentioned the cost. There are various licence options from a 7 day through to full time. We chose the 7 night one way plus 7 night return within 12 month option and for us at 14 meters in length this was £670. It might sound a lot but there are 29 locks and 10 swing bridges all manned and operated for you. So that’s 78 things that are done for you so it’s about £8.60 per thing, not too bad really.
We came out of the canal and anchored just by Kessock Road Bridge for another peaceful evening whilst we decided where to go for a few days. We consulted Ken, the font of all information things Scottish and Graham Harrold but we got the feeling there wasn’t that much of notoriety. Our first stop was Rosemarkie Bay near the Chanonry Point where often Dolphins chase salmon, however we weren’t lucky, little did we know!
Our next stop was the Cromarty Firth, I’d spotted some fixed AIS targets and guessed these were Oil Rigs or similar and moored up support ships. We weren’t disappointed.
We always use Navionics and Navily to find suitable anchorages and mooring options. With the Cromarty Firth Navily suggested some moorings operated by the Cromarty Boat Club. However when we rounded The Ness at Cromarty we realised that the moored boats were much smaller and lighter than us so their moorings wouldn’t be strong enough. We considered anchoring as we very regularly do or Ultra Anchor but something said not to.
We found a very large yellow buoy about 4feet in diameter and about 2 feet out of the water. My rough rule of thumb is that a 1 foot diameter ball mooring is about 10T and hence a 2 foot diameter about 20T so this at 4 feet was easily 40T so plenty big enough for us. The pick-up buoy was long but very heavy with weeds, kelp and muscles on it, so I didn’t bother. It had a large 8 inch bow shackle on the top although this was on wrong as I could only get to the pin and not the bow. At this point I couldn’t change it as there was another old shackle seized below it, so I just left us on the pin. Hindsight ! I wish you could have it in advance of when you wished you’d had it.
We always attach in a similar manner if we are staying more than an hour or so and definitely if overnight. This time was no different. I ran a warp from the port side cleat out to the mooring and back to the same port cleat. Then I ran the same on the starboard side, from cleat to buoy and back to the cleat. We stayed overnight and all was good, apart from the partially submerged pick up strop banging against the hull. So on the next day I lassoed the pick up buoy from the stbd cleat over the bow roller around the pickup buoy back over the bow roller and back to the cleat, lifting the pickup right up to our bow roller. That stopped the banging and now we had a doubled up 16mm three strand, a doubled up 20mm three strand on the shackle and a doubled up 16mm onto the pickup buoy up under our anchor. Belts and braces you might think.
We looked at the forecast as Storm Amy had been travelling across the Atlantic for a few days and it was looking very likely to hit the top of Scotland with some force. We decided to stay in the Cromarty Firth as we were protected from the southwest but a bit less protected if the winds came from the west however still mostly protected. We did consider going back into the canal but you’re either tied up or near hurty things, and stuff that doesn’t move is not very forgiving. Decision made!…
The following day I went up front and checked everything as we were seeing the start of the storm, as winds were up in the 20s. Everything good. The 16mm line was new, the 20mm was in good condition and the 16mm on the pickup buoy is hardly used.
I also checked all our canopy was tied down properly. My theory is with a total enclosure, unless the wind can get in, it’s safer to keep it closed up.
That evening around 7pm the wind started to increase and we were seeing 40+. Now I wouldn’t say it was flat calm Champagne sailing conditions but a 45ft yacht on a big mooring isn’t that bad. By 9 or 10pm the wind was hitting 50+ and even sat above the keel in our saloon it was getting a bit spicy. I sensed a bit more draft as the hatch wasn’t full closed so I ventured outside for a sit-rep. The port side front zip had opened and I couldn’t get it closed so I tied it back with two lines and secured the side with another line, the hole now actually put a bit of pressure inside the enclosure to balance the wind on the outside, calm returned and I had a look with a torch up front (no way I was leaving the cockpit) and everything looked fine but we were pitching quite a bit. I went back down.
At about 10pm the wind was hitting 60kts, I now know that our wind speed indicator stops at… 60kts ! We then heard a loud bang so I came into the cockpit, deck light on, torch in hand and took a look. Everything seemed ok, all lines appeared to be ok, I could see the pickup at our bow and as we pitched I could see the mooring buoy mainly on our stbd side. I surmised that we must have pitched up and hit the mooring buoy about 6 feet ahead of us.
I went back down and continued to watch the telly. About 1/2 hr later there was another huge bang. I thought bugger we hit the buoy again but I pulled up Navionics on the iPad to check our position… ‘Jesus!!’ I screamed, we are moving…
I came out into the cockpit and the oil rig/platform that had been behind us was now amidships and we were moving at quite a pace. I started the engine and tried to motor forward but we couldn’t make way. Ffiona passed up my coat and a life jacket and tether. I looked forward with the torch and could still see the pickup buoy under our bow roller and lines from both cleats going forward. At this point I feared that the mooring had broken and that we were dragging its remains, which is why I couldn’t steer or make way. Ffiona came up and I said just keep trying to motor forward and back in the rough direction of the rig/platform.
I now know that it wasn’t 60+kts it was actually over 100kts because Invergorden RNLI, about 4 miles west was recording that wind speed. Anyway, needs must, and with at least 3m waves crashing over the bow I clipped on and went forward with a knife to cut us free. When I got there I realised we didn’t have the mooring as our warps had severed. We did however have the pick-up buoy and whatever length of line attached to it with a huge amount of muscles and other stuff growing on it. I managed to uncleat the line holding that pickup and it splashed into the sea but didn’t go far as I guess it was very heavily weighed down. I uncleared all our parted line, no easy job as they were now very tightly attached to the cleats, then I went back to the cockpit. As you can see we had drifted right across Cromarty Firth and were now perilously close to that ship moored up.
When I got to the cockpit I took over from Ffiona and gave it some beans, we could now make some progress, that pick-up buoy must have been holding us, I made our way across the Forth back in the direction of Cromarty. On almost full throttle we could only make about 2kts, slow progress.
If you follow our progress you can just about see that we got back to around about where we had been moored up. We dropped the anchor in about 6m of water but in over 50kts showing and pitching up and down, I dropped 40m of chain and thought we had dug in. However looking around I wasn’t happy with our location as we were quite close to the moored up boats of the Cromarty Boat Club...
We decided to pick up and move a little more west away from the moorings. We dropped anchor again, this time about 50m but it was quite obvious we were not holding! Why? That anchor, an Ultra, always sticks! Perhaps it just can’t bite because we are pitching and not giving it a chance? I tried to retrieve it but the windlass trip fuse went before we got it fully in. I reset it and let a bit out then tried again,… it tripped. Four times we tried but it kept tripping. Anyway we tried moving and could, so we moved back and had another go. No luck it wouldn’t hold we were drifting. I tried retrieving it again but after about 60seconds, around 30m of chain in, it tripped again, reset, try again 10seconds, trip, reset, try again 5seconds, trip. At this point with Ffiona steering ahead I went up front again to check why the windlass was tripping the fuse, clipped on and trying to stay connected to the deck as we pitched up and down with waves breaking over the bow.
When I got to the bow I checked in the anchor locker for a castled up chain, but no everything looked ok. The anchor was still out so I tried lifting it, bit by bit. It was slow going but eventually I could see it surfacing. I only got it about 1 foot out of the water but could see a massive anchor chain hooked over the back of our anchor. This chain was easily 6 to 8 inch ovals with a central bar, something of a ship or something equally huge!!
I didn’t get a picture as I was a bit busy and everyone knows I don’t have my phone out of the cabin. I tried briefly to get it off but I couldn’t move it, well obviously not as it was tripping a 100A fuse on a 1500w windlass.
Next we decided to head out of Cromarty Firth for the open expanse of the Moray Firth so we couldn’t hit anything and take stock.
As soon as we headed downwind everything became much less fraught. We realised that if we tucked in close at the south side entrance to the Cromarty Firth at a place called Charlie’s Seat we might get a bit of respite from the ferocious winds, swell and waves. So we headed there. As we rounded the point everything went calm and Ffiona took over steering us back then forth whilst I went up to the bow to see if I could free that chain.
When I got forward I could see that off to both sides of our anchor that huge chain was in the sea, so much that even with a touch I couldn’t sea either end, I’ll take a guess but we must have had at least 8 feet of it and I bet 1/2 to 1 tonne of it!!
We have a special hook with two attachment points. The idea is you hook whatever you’re snagged on and tie the line to the cleat, then you tie the other line, which is attached to the centre of that same hook. Now you lower your anchor away and the tied hook holds whatever you’re snagged on. Now you release the line holding the hook up so the weight is taken on the second line, this slows the hook to rotate and you drop whatever your are were hooked onto. Fantastic tool but absolutely no use here as I couldn’t even get it to hook around that huge chain. We also have a line attached to the back of our ultra anchor with some little floaty balls on it, we call it the Dougie! (Another story about a dear friend and his anchor) This line we use to secure the anchor to the bow when at sea or as a trip line should we need it. Anyway, shit or bust, I hooked the Dougie on and let the anchor chain out with the hope that the huge chain would slip off the back of our anchor but it held fast! I pulled it in again then released it via the gypsey, so it moved out faster. Third time, the huge chain splashed down into the sea. Thank the lord! What now ?
No way were we going back into the Cromarty Firth, no disrespect intended but we were now knackered, I was piss wet through and cold, too much hardware to moor close too even if we could anchor in god knows how much wind, waves etc.
We elected to go to Rosemarkie Bay get some shelter from the now westerly hurricane force winds. We made way on full chat making about 4kts. We arrived in Rosemarkie at about 3am and attempted to anchor in 5m. The anchor bit first time and I let out 50 meters as we were still in over 50kts of wind but not much in the way of waves or swell.
We went into the cabin which was nice and warm as we had the foresight to put the heating on. I set the anchor alarm, Drag Queen!, and also put the iPad on track so we could monitor the situation. I went for a shower, bit wobbly, and then put some warm dry clothing on. We had a well earned brew then retired to bed fully clothed just in case.
We got up about 10am from memory and everything looked ok. However, we were quite far over to the west of Rosemarkie bay which on looking closely is marked as R on Navionics, so rocky. We were still held, so I didn’t worry, we had breakfast. Not long after the anchor alarm went off, we were still over 40kts of wind, I checked the track. Sure, enough we looked like we were dragging anchor, the tide had turned – bugger! Put all the electronics on, including VHF and AIS - relevance later.
No problem, the wind was down to 30kts but it was relatively calm close in to shore where we were. No rush, the anchor let go, then bit again and we were slowly drifting out into the Murray Firth. I got out into the cockpit to fire up the donkey - o poo! 💩- it wouldn’t start! Just turned over, fired then cut out…
A bit of ready reckoning and the thoughts of flat out motoring the previous night for 6 hrs then the generator on this morning and the heater on all night and coming through the canal to Inverness and I realised - out of Diesel ⛽️. No problem we carry almost 100ltr of spare fuel as being Livaboard you never know when or where you will need fuel. Fifty litres is up in the anchor locker so I went and got that and jiggle syphoned it in, great tool the jiggler. Now refilled, after about 10 attempts. the donkey burst into life. As you will see we had drifted quite a way but never in any danger.
We motored back into Rosemarkie Bay and I heard my phone ringing, strange, anyway we carried on and dropped anchor a bit closer to where we had anchored many days before, not the same spot ! but fairly close. Once apparently holding I checked my phone. An Aberdeen number ? So I called them back.
It turned out to be Aberdeen coast guard who had been trying to call us on VHF but got no rely, as our VHF is off when anchored, they explained that they had a report from the shore that a yacht was adrift. They had checked marine traffic or similar and seen us in Cromarty Firth and realised we had dragged or similar then seemed to go to Rosemarkie but then our position was lost until a short while ago when we suddenly appeared again but moving slowly. He got us to switch all our lights on so the shore contact was confident it was us and Aberdeen Coast Guard was also sure. I explained everything and then called them back on 16 to give our current GPS. They asked us to call back if anything else occurred. They also told us that Invergorden RNLI were on the way - that will make a few people in Pwllheli laugh, as it’s not a first for us. Aberdeen said that they had stood down the lifeboat but he suspected they might still arrive.
Sure enough about 20 mins later Invergorden Shannon Class lifeboat arrived with us. I called them on 16 and switched to 06 for a chat. Sure enough they had been stood down but progressing in these challenging seas and winds was good practice. We chatted about our exploits for quite some time before they bid farewell and went with following seas back to Invergorden, it was the crew that told us their wind speed indicator had shown 106kts - Jesus that’s Hurricane force winds !
We also found out from Cromarty Boat Club that when we broke free of that mooring, the Port of Cromarty was trying to raise us. With all that happened that night, to be honest even if we had heard anything, which we didn’t, we were far to involved to say much. I’m thinking that we probably didn’t put the cockpit VHF on and that it’s also possible that the VHF was on Channel 74, the canal channel.
Anyway no harm done and we settled in again. It can’t have been 30 mins and the anchor alarm went again, for F sake this was getting tedious now. Usual routine back in the cockpit, I went up front and we retrieved the anchor. It was completely covered in kelp and kelp roots. We moved closer to where we had been days before but not entirely in the same spot as we wanted to be tight into the West to get maximum protection from the winds. Anchor dropped again and it seemed to hold. I called Aberdeen Coast Guard and reported our new GPS location.
We hadn’t been down long and off the alarm went again, same procedure, only this time I used the kelp anchoring tip we had used before. You get the boat almost stationary and then lay out chain onto the sea bed faster than you reverse. This leaves the chain on the sea bed but you don’t pull back to get the anchor to bite. The theory is that the anchor will gently move in the direction of drift skimming over the kelp until it finds sand or gravel at which point it will dig in and hey presto you are held firm. It seemed to work. After a few minuets I could see we had stopped drifting so I went out and pulled back, it seemed good. Lunch time.
Not long after, the anchor alarm went again, I can’t remember if this was the forth, fifth or god knows how many failed attempts, we lost count.
I scanned the shoreline now with the binoculars to see if I could work out where this kelp bed was. It became apparent that in-front of Rosemarkie bay you could see the high tide line as a band of what looked like kelp, seaweed etc. further over to the east is a caravan/camper van park and in-front of it was perfectly clean sand so we headed for 5m of water directly out from that beach and dropped the anchor again. The VHF went off again with Aberdeen asking us if we had dragged again as someone on shore had called them again. We explained and said we would call them with a new position. Nice to know people are looking out for you and concerned, however strange they reported us drifting into the shipping lane ! No fools but us were going to be out in this it was still blowing 30 to 45kts. Interestingly Navionics has the moorings marked more or less where the kelp bed is and Navionics has it correct as in-front of the caravan park.
Anyway down went the anchor and 40m of chain and after a brief gentle reverse I gunned it in reverse, 100% sure we were stuck. In fact I left it in reverse at about 1500 rpm whilst I went to the bow and attached the bridle letting out about 5 to 10 meters more of chain. We weren’t going anywhere now. I called Aberdeen and reported our New New New position.
We stayed there all that day and the following day until the now storm blew through. We never ventured ashore and spent most of those days just hunkered down, internet, eating and watching TV. The canopy held firmly as did our anchor, nice sandy bum !
We had intended doing a bit of the north and south coast of the Murray Firth before going back East to West through the Caledonian Canal but, let’s just say our enthusiasm had wained a little, tempers were stretched and the relatively sanctuary of an enclosed canal network beckoned.
The reverse direction east to west through the Caledonian Canal was both spectacular but uneventful. Still just as scenic but with quite a lot of motoring. We stopped again half way up Loch Ness at Urquhart Castle, well the remains of it.
We came out of the canal at Cromarty again and set off south heading for home.
The weather has turned pretty poor up here so we keep having to tuck in and ride out the severe weather. I’ve decided that the usual acronym for BOAT is Bring Out Another Thousand but I’ve got a new one Broken Or About To. We’ve already had a few issues…
The dinghy painter almost let us down, parting at the fixing to the dinghy, this was in a 45kts following sea coming down from Mallaig to the Sound of Mull.
Then almost leaving the Mull towards Oban we were sailing in a gentle breeze upwind when the wind shifted about 180 degrees then two Chinese gibes just as the wind increased to 45kts - all in the blink of an eye, 2 minutes max, the mainsheet block and traveler parted company and our boom swung into the standing rigging. O FFS !!
Well! What you need, apart from more luck, in these situations is a mechanic that thinks out of the box, if you zoom in you can see three of my soft shackles securing what’s left of the mainsheet traveler car to the track and the mainsheet block to that car.
We have a thermal imaging camera on our mast which is useful at night for spotting obstacles or navigating into remote places or spotting objects like mooring balls. Anyway a few miles later it parted company with its bracket, hit the deck and swiftly fell overboard. So!… we did have a thermal imaging camera ! I can only surmise that the impact of the boom hitting the rigging did something to the mounting bracket but it’s half way up the mast under our radar so not easy to see. I had looked all around for any other damage but the camera looked ok and was working.
Let’s see what the insurance company have to say. I’ve already got the bits for the traveler and block sent to Stranraer Marina but the boom will have to wait. Z spares say about £2500 so that’s not BOAT its 2 times BOAT the bits from Harken are 1/2 a BOAT the camera, well who knows but it’s not a cheap item and ours is discontinued.
Currently sat behind Sanda Island riding out yet another storm before going to Stranraer early tomorrow then Dublin after a day or so. Should end up back in Pwllheli mid November for a rest and catch up.
