BLOG: Round Britain with a Brain Tumour

The celebrations continue

2010-09-05T00:16:00.001+01:00

And no need to go inside when it started to get chilly and dark. Good
job we are celebrating on land because you wouldn't want one of these
on the boat!

Celebrations!

2010-09-05T00:11:00.001+01:00

Cheers! We are celebrating our return to dry land with a BBQ at our
house in Norwich.

BBQ

2010-09-03T18:52:00.001+01:00

We are having a BBQ tomorrow at our house, from 4pm in Norwich (151 Newmarket st, NR2 2DS) and would love to see anyone who would like to come and join us for just 10 mins or the whole evening. Perhaps you can bring a sausage or two so that we have the right amount of food!

Back Home

2010-09-03T18:20:00.002+01:00

We got back home on Wednesday night after a meal in a pub on the side of the A140. We didn't sleep that well suprisingly as we had been looking forward to sleeping in our own bed!

Yesterday we were feeling very overwhelmed by what we had just finished and couldn't really comprehend the achievement. We did pretty well at sorting out the gear we had brought back from the boat and cooking a roast dinner in our real kitchen but were generally feeling pretty exhausted. Our kitchen at home isn’t huge but when you have been cooking in a space of about 1m square it felt massive!

Today we have been feeling loads better and a lot more rested. We are really pleased to be home but we are able to comprehend how much we have got out of the last 3 months sailing and how good it has been for both of us after the stress and worry we have had over the previous few years. Josie having to surrender her driving license over 5 years ago has always left her feeling very dependant on others, particularly me but whilst sailing it has been her who has done most of the helming, and manouvering of the boat and this has helped her feel so much more "free" and in control.

We will be spending some time reflecting on the challenge and will post more blogs in the coming days but we are focusing on being home, getting life going again back here and generally moving life forward together and in a way that works for us.

Josies tumour became malignant 18 months before we started this challenge and she has been through some really nasty times with treatment, and infections. Her life expectancy is still very unknown but currently scans are good and we will continue to enjoy life while things are going well.

We have finished!

2010-09-01T16:55:00.001+01:00

We got back about 30 mins ago. Keep an eye on anglia tv tonight we
going to be on live at 6 I think.

Nearly home

2010-09-01T13:58:00.001+01:00

You know you're nearly home when you can see the Felixstowe cranes!

The last day

2010-09-01T08:41:00.001+01:00

We just have a few little sand banks to get over or round then it's
into the orwell and up the river to Fox's! We normally aim to arrive
in the middle of the thames at high water to get good tide into the
center on the flood and away again on the ebb. Sand banks are also
easier to negotiate with more water over them! This time we shall b
there around low water but as it is neaps we are still going to try
our "short cuts"! Fingers crossed we stay afloat! (don't worry it is
all carefully planned) This means we arrive at Fox's at a reasonable
time and not at low water!

Thank you so much to everyone who has made a donation to one of our
charities. We have raised about £13750 so far which is a huge amount
of money but our target is £25000 so if you haven't yet donated please
consider a small donation today and let's see how close we can get!

We met Professor Pilkington when we were down in cowes and he is
likely to be spending much of the money you have helped us raise. He
has some very interesting and exciting projects on at the moment and
he is going to show us both round his lab next time we are near
Portsmouth.

Up at dawn again - for the last time

2010-09-01T06:07:00.001+01:00

We have just motored out of Ramsgate and now got the sails up. All
going well we should be home in about 10 hours. It's a beautiful
morning and we have 12 knots of wind so should be a good day.

Ramesgate or Dover? Dover every time!

2010-08-31T19:20:00.000+01:00

Of all the harbours and marinas we have been to on this trip nearly
all have been incredibly supportive helpful and friendly. Ramesgate
is not one of them!

We were begrudgingly given 25% off as we are raising money for brain
tumours "of all things" (not my words!)

It is not the minimal discount that is upsetting, more the disregard
for a very poorly funded desease that kills more people under 40 than
any other cancer!

Tomorrow is another day and we are looking forward to our final sail
and crossing the thames for the third time this year.

Keeping up with the 37 footers

2010-08-31T16:38:00.001+01:00

We left Dover with another yacht and have been beating up to Ramsgate.
Despite it being bigger than us we are keeping up with it well.

Very good sailing boat.

Good crew?!

Penultimate day of sailing (hopefully!)

2010-08-31T13:03:00.000+01:00

We are currently still in Dover, enjoying not having to have an early
start in what seems like quite a long time. We will then sail to
Ramsgate this afternoon when the tide has turned to help sweep us
round. It should only take about 3 hours.

Then we will leave tomorrow morning at about 6am for the final push
back to Ipswich. We hope to arrive into Fox's between 4 and 6 pm.

Dungeness

2010-08-30T14:59:00.000+01:00

We are just passing dungeness. Wind is much closer ahead now and we
about to turn more into it. It has been a little choppy and we expect
it to get a bit more bouncy round this point.

This bit of the south coast is maybe not quite as picturesque as the
west coast of Scotland, but we hav had some pretty good sailing.

Fantastic sailing!

2010-08-30T12:16:00.001+01:00

We turned upwind after Beachy head and have been having a fantastic
sail passed Eastbourne towards Dungeness averaging about 7 knots. The
wind has been getting up ( it was forecast to drop) and we now have 2
reefs in the main and 2 in the genoa.

Beachy head

2010-08-30T09:57:00.000+01:00

Just passing Beachy head. The sun is now higher so it's getting a
little warmer- but not much.

Nearing beachy head

2010-08-30T08:22:00.001+01:00

We set off from Brighton today at 6.45am and are heading for Dover.
Currently the wind is from the north west and we are on a very broad
reach towards beachy head. The sun is out, but not very high yet. The
sailing is good, but it is really cold again. We not been this cold
since the very beginning of our trip (I am wearing two jumpers and two
jackets and it is still august!)

We are really excited to be nearly home, with only two more days after
today we think!

Today is a long passage of about 65miles. We would recon on this
taking 13hours but going in this direction along the English channel
you can nearly keep up with the tide! This means that we should only
have one or two hours of tide against us all passage! So hopefully
this will speed us up a bit and increase our average speed over the
ground.

Brighton

2010-08-29T18:16:00.001+01:00

We got into Brighton marina at about 2 pm and met Nigel Boutwood from
Charlies Challenge (umbrella of brain tumour research). He is a really
interesting guy and quite a character! He has also helped us
previously by putting us in touch with potential sponsors.

The sail today was really good, dead down wind so we went the whole
way without putting the main up! Although we didn't drop much below
6.5 kts which isn't bad for one sail!

After selsey bill a bit of a following sea developed but the new sea
cock on the exhaust did it's thing and we had no problems starting the
engine to come in!

The marina at Brighton is surrounded by a concrete sea wall which
reflects incoming waves creating quite a confused and choppy sea near
by. The entrance faces south east and to get a good view of anything
coming out you have to approach very wide when coming from the west.
In these conditions you are left side on to the waves and reflected
waves, until you are sheltered by the wall. It's a short period of
pain and nigel says you soon get used to it. I imagine it can get
fairly nasty in "bigger" weather though.

Thank you again to premier marinas for your support of our challenge.

The finish

2010-08-29T07:54:00.000+01:00

We are hoping to get back into Ipswich between Tuesday and Thursday
this coming week. The plan is to then have a bit of a party at our
house in Norwich on saturday evening for anyone who would like to
come. We will then probably go back down to the boat on Sunday to move
her back to her mooring at pin mill, so there will b a chance to see
nordlys if you wanted to go down and see what we have spent the last
3.5 months living on!

If you would like to come to our house on Saturday let us know if you
can, so that we can organise sufficient food etc. All are welcome,
but it won't go on late as Josie will b very tired!

Early start!

2010-08-29T05:41:00.001+01:00

Wakey wakey everyone! We are off to Brighton. It's just starting to
get light!

Lymington

2010-08-28T10:14:00.000+01:00

We got into lymington at about 7.30 or 8 pm on Thursday evening. We
were still pretty tired but had left over curry from the night before!

On Friday we met up with jeremy and fiona rogers who are our biggest
sponsor and have helped us a huge amount to get nordlys set up for
this trip before we left. We did a couple of newspaper interviews and
Josie did an interview with BBC radio Solent (check out our publicity
page for links soon).

We got a "big tap" fitted to our exhaust so this should b the end of
engine problems! Thank you to the guys in lymington for sorting this.
We also fitted a new leisure battery as the old one suddenly stopped
holding it's charge after our rounding of Portland! Hmm not sure if
that is related but it added to the "fun" at the time (no engine, no
instruments ......)

We had dinner at jeremy and fionas last night, which was really nice.
We really enjoyed chatting with them and hearing a bit more about
calypso (their "green" contessa32 which will be at the Southampton
boat show on the 10th - Check out their blog http://buildingcalypso.blogspot.com/
)
it was also particuarly nice to have dinner off the boat in a real
house!

The weather is loads better now, it is sunny and we have 12kts of wind
from the north. So we feeling loads better and enjoying a gentle sail
over to cowes.

We are in the Solent!

2010-08-26T18:55:00.001+01:00

We are in the Solent and heading for lymington at last! Has been
mainly dry coming over, but not much wind.

I hate August!

2010-08-25T15:37:00.001+01:00

We are in Poole in the rain. It feels like the wettest coldest weather
we've had all the way round so we are going to curl up and watch a
film and then have takeaway curry for dinner. Thank you Mum and Dad
for the dehumidifier, we are not quite as damp as we would otherwise
have been!

Downwind to Poole

2010-08-24T09:03:00.000+01:00

We are sailing towards Poole at 7kts under genoa alone. It's pretty
windy again (force 6) but the forecast is worse for tomorrow so we're
making a run for it.

Big waves

2010-08-23T19:28:00.000+01:00

Well we made it across Lyme bay and are safely in Weymouth harbour. We
had quite an exciting time with rather a lot of wind and very big
waves. I think taking the outside passage round Portland bill was
wise. The waves calmed down as we headed in and so we decided to go
the shore side of the shambles and then had a lovely sail with just
the genoa into Weymouth. Exhausted and salty but a jolly good sail!

Mid morning update

2010-08-23T11:50:00.000+01:00

The wind has got up to 20-25 kts,and the waves are 1-1.5m. we now
have 2 reefs in main and genoa and still speeding along at 6.5 kts.
The rain has cleared up now and the sun is out.

We now plan to take the outside passage round Portland bill taking us
out round "the shambles".

Crossing Lyme bay

2010-08-23T09:43:00.000+01:00

After much debate we have set off across Lyme bay. The force 8
forecast either never materialised or passed in the night. Inshore
waters is still saying 5-7 but the more local BBC is saying 2-6 so who
knows really.

Chris and Jenny have joined us for the crossing.

Currently it is blowing force 4 and we are sailing at 6.5 kts with
1/2 kt of tide. The tide will be turning against us soon, this is
planned so that by the time we arrive at Portland bill it will be with
us again and the race won't be too strong- that's the plan anyway!

I'm bloggin and Josie is loggin!

2010-08-19T20:39:00.000+01:00

Today we sailed across tor bay, it didn't take long, partly because we
were going at up to 6.5 kts but also because it is only 3.8miles from
brixham to Torquay! Our shortest sail yet.

The harbour here in Torquay are very friendly and as well as looking
after us tonight the staff also made a personal donation, thank you
Torquay harbour. What we didn't know was that it is about to be tor
bay regatta week! And although there was plenty of space tonight there
wouldn't b tomorrow.

Keith and xanthe are due to have the boat this weekend (seems fair
that as they own some of the boat, they get to use it occasionally!)
as is typical for them the usual low pressures have been rolling in
and there is a force 7 on the forcast especially for them. This time
they have two young children with them so we were not keen to leave
them to have to move nordlys to somewhere quiter in a force 7 with
younger than usual crew! We had decided we would take the boat back to
dartmouth so that they could use it there but were not looking forward
to the passage in less than ideal conditions in the wrong direction!
Luckily the marina here had a cancelation and we were able to book
nordlys in for Keith and crew to go in and out of as they please until
we get back on Sunday to continue east.

Weather permitting we hope to cross Lyme bay on Monday. Chris and
jenny are all ready to join us for that.

Sailing with Charlie and Ben

2010-08-18T13:40:00.000+01:00

We have sailed from Dartmouth to Brixham today. As the forecast was
for sun we planned to anchor in Tor Bay. However just before we
arrived it started raining. We have anchored anyway and are waiting
for the sun to come out so we can have a BBQ.

Chocolate beetroot cake and clotted cream sandwiches.

2010-08-17T20:41:00.001+01:00

You can tell that lactose intolerant, cake baking Charlie is on board!

Dartmouth

2010-08-16T18:52:00.001+01:00

We had a great sail round from Salcombe to Dartmouth today. I think it
is the first time in the whole trip I have not needed to wear a
jumper, it was that warm. We left at 10am and had the tide all the way
meaning progress was swift. The forecast was NW going SW but in fact
it was more northerly the whole way meaning a nice broad reach to
Start point and then quite a close reach to Dartmouth, infact we ended
up beating (tacking back and forth) to make it upwind enough to the
entrance. After a quick dinghy trip into town we spent the afternoon
chilling out on the boat.

This is the life!

2010-08-15T13:16:00.000+01:00

We have found our own private beach in Salcombe harbour for a BBQ.
Pretty nice hey?

Frankie and the fish

2010-08-15T11:43:00.000+01:00

We are moored in Salcombe harbour, fishing from the stern. The problem
with taking marine biologists sailing is that they are more interested
in dissecting fish brains than anything else!

We are heading off in the dinghy to find a beach for a BBQ.

Who says an umbrella is the most useless item to keep on a boat?

2010-08-14T15:24:00.000+01:00

The sun disappeared after our G&T, the wind died and water started
falling from the sky, so we are now sailing at 2kts in the rain. What
fun!!

Look who's got a gin palace now!

2010-08-14T15:20:00.000+01:00

We are having a very civilised afternoon sail to salcombe. Great wind
and a G&T!

Priya, Frankie, and Ed meet us in Plymouth

2010-08-13T21:49:00.001+01:00

Priya is taking the picture so is not in view.

looks like they are all going to come sailing tomorrow to salcombe!

We are going to make a sailor out of mum yet!

2010-08-13T09:20:00.000+01:00

We on our way to Sutton harbour in Plymouth today after a really nice
evening on a mooring in fowey. Thank you fowey harbour for looking
after us and your support for our challenge.

Mum and dad Alderton met us in fowey for dinner onboard and mum stayed
to sail with us into Plymouth. Sail is really nice with a good force 4
or 5 from the north. Another beam reach with flat sea.

Dodman pt!

2010-08-12T11:41:00.000+01:00

We are just passing dodman point. We hav slowed down considerably as
the flow races round the headland. With an offshore wind it is very
calm though.

We hav heard scary stories about this headland but is pretty benign in
these conditions.

Sailing again

2010-08-12T10:18:00.000+01:00

We set off at about 9 this morning and sailed out of Falmouth. We are
now on our way to fowey on a beam reach in a very pleasant force 4. We
are making 5 - 5.5 kts over the ground against a bit of tide. We
should have tide against us until we get to fowey, but it is only
25miles so we are in no rush.

Jos wants to know where the sun is, but at least it is dry and we can
see the coastline.

Falmouth

2010-08-11T14:54:00.001+01:00

We are still in Falmouth and should be on our way to fowey in the
morning. Falmouth marina (one of the premier marina chain) hav been
looking after us very well and found space for us even though it is
falmouth week!

Beta have been brilliant and with the new parts and briefing on how to
fit them the engine is now running well again. We have done 2 of our
planned 5 oil changes to ensure it gets a really good flush.

Newlyn to Falmouth

2010-08-06T19:59:00.001+01:00

The night harbour master popped round last night to check that our
engine was fixed and also handed us a bag of ice to keep our fridge
cold! We set off for Falmouth at 11am and had the tide with us the
whole way. Once out of the harbour the sails were soon up and we were
sailing out of mounts bay toward the lizard (the photo for this blog
was going to be one of st michael's mount but it was so misty we
couldn't even see it). The wind was from the south west and we were
making a steady 6kts on a beam reach. We had a reef in and so when the
wind eased a little we decided to shake it out. Unfortunately we
forgot to release the second reeding line, causing the boom to lift as
we hoisted the main. This caused the rod kicker come apart- generally
we got in a bit of a mess! The sea was pretty bumpy by this point (we
were not far off the lizard) so we switched the engine on to get the
problem sorted and through the unsettled conditions around the point.
It wasn't long though before the engine revs dropped just like before.
We presume we have broken another spring in the fuel pump which means
we were running on just 2 of the 3 cylinders again. We switched the
engine off and continued sailing on to Falmouth feeling pretty
demoralised!

Soon the mist lifted and the sun came out, we actually saw lizard
point (the most southerly point of our trip) the sea smoothed, the
wind came round to the west and we had a lovely sail up to Falmouth.
The next issue was where to moor up .....

Apparently it is the beginning of Falmouth week and so Falmouth is
full! However Roger managed to arrange a temporary berth with the
harbour master here and we are hoping to move to Falmouth marina at
high water tomorrow, then the new parts from beta should arrive on
Tuesday. Roger had a good discussion with them on the phone and it's
time to get this sorted once and for all ( have we said that before?!)

Do the scillies really exist?!

2010-08-05T21:35:00.000+01:00

Well we left padstow harbour on Monday evening and spent the night on
a mooring outside. We wanted to leave well before the lock gates
would open to ensure we arrived at new grimsby sound on the scillies
in the light. We ended up leaving at 5.30am, dead on low water but
made it over the bar without any problems. We motor sailed to start
with as the wind was very close to the nose (not forcast!) and waited
for it to come round to the forcasted nw for a nice reach over. This
never really happened, and just off lands end the engine lost power
and we could no longer hold usual revs. We hav been having a few
problems with the engine, but this was new. The forcast was for
strong nw wind on the scillies with a fairly rough sea state. There
seems to not b very much shelter there from this wind direction and
without a fully funcional engine we decided that the only option was
to limp round to newlyn. We figured sailing into newlyn wouldn't be
too bad if we had to, but as we were still off lands end we made a
call to the coast guard to let them know of our issues, but confirm
that we didn't need assistance. The wind picked up a little and we
were then sailing down wind. We couldn't decide if we could risk
switching the engine off. We didn't know whether Reducing revs would
cause it to stop and then not start again so we opted to leave it on.
We hav had quite enough trying to get it to start on other occasions!

It did stay running and even didn't mind slowing down when we parked
in newlyn although it was still running at reduced power.

Once we had told people we were in (our shore contact and the coast
guard) Roger set about changing fuel filters to try and find the
problem. After taking some advice from a local engineer roger spent
much of the next day blowing though diesel pipes and changing more
filters trying to find a blockage but to no avail! After some more
discussion with the engineer we discovered that one of the injectors
wasn't getting fuel and we were therefore only running on two of the
three. The engineer had the fuel pump off in no time and showed us
the broken spring causing the problem. After a few phone calls a
"spare" spring was found from the engineers friend and the engine now
runs well again!

If you ever find yourself in newlyn with an engine problem we can
recomend chris at mounts bay engineering.

We are now quite behind "the plan" and with westerlies on the forcast
we hav decided to give the scillies a miss. We are going to make the
most of a westerly wind and head east towards Falmouth tomorrow.

Newlyn is a great little harbour with a very vibrant fishing industry.
We are one of a handful of yachts in a harbour full of fishing boats
of varying sizes! In fact we are currently moored between two small
ones and have to clamber over them to get to the pontoon.

BBQ weather!

2010-08-02T13:00:00.001+01:00

At last we have both BBQ weather and a functional BBQ!

scotland-ni

2010-08-01T17:36:00.000+01:00

Roger on "doom bar"

2010-08-01T13:17:00.000+01:00

As you can see we are still in Padstow. Been for a walk to Doom bar,
now off for a pint of it with a Sunday roast in a pub! (If we can
battle our way through the crowds of padstow and find space).

Two Men in Two Boats!

2010-07-31T07:40:00.001+01:00

It looks like we'll be staying in Padstow for a bit longer than we intended. Dad helped Roger try to fit a new transom exhaust fitting but found it was the wrong size. We now need to get it changed for the correct one and fit that before we can get on the move again and on our way to Scilly. We hope it will solve the problem of water getting into the exhaust when we heel. We are very grateful to Padstow harbour for their hospitality and in particular to the harbourmaster for keeping an eye on Nordlys when we are not on board. If we stay here long enough perhaps the sun will come out!

Padstow- home turf for Josie

2010-07-28T12:18:00.000+01:00

Yet again we had trouble with the engine starting before coming into
Padstow. Thinking now the trouble is water coming in the exhaust and
backing up to the water lock we headed nordlys up wind and heeled over
as far as we could as the exhaust is higher out of the water than
sailing downwind. Eventually it started so we are getting more
convinced of the cause. We negociated "doom bar" (Gaelic for dune,
nothing more sinister-but it is rather on the shallow side) and then
picked up a mooring buoy outside the harbour to wait for the tide to
come in. The lock gates to the inner harbour only open 2 hours either
side of high water. Once in the harbour we rafted alongside a Rustler
36. We were greeted very enthusiastically by Mum, Dad and Nana,
pleased to see us safely in. Padstow has changed a lot from my
childhood memories of days out and is much more crowded but still
retains much of it's pituresque charm!

Also in Padstow are Becky and Mary sailing round Britain in their
rather tiny Corribee "Jellyfish"

To padstow 4 am

2010-07-26T12:45:00.001+01:00

We met the thorne mason trust at neyland yesterday. They are a fairly
new addition to the brain tumour research group and provide support
for all cancer in pembrokeshire and brain tumour research. They were a
great bunch and we really enjoyed meeting them.

Whilst we were there drinking squash on board, we saw henry pottle
come into the marina in teko. We met henry when we moored next to him
in amble (where he keeps his boat). He has been to the channel islands
via the east and south coast and is going home back the other way! We
were hoping to bump into him, but it was a real surprise to see him
like that.

After a walk along the river we had some lunch, said our good byes to
henry and set off down the river to a pontoon at dale. The pontoon
isn't attached to land but dale is close to the entrance to Milford
haven.

We set off today at 01.30 to get to padstow. Padstow is very tidal,
so timing our arrival correctly is very important. We need to arrive
between 2 and 3 hours before high water to ensure there is the water
depth we need to get in. We go before high water so that if we do hit
some sand the tide will lift us off it again. The passage is 70miles
which we estimate to take us 14 hours this should get us at the
enterance for 3 hours before hw.

As it is a long passage, involving some night sailing we are taking
watches. Roger and erica got up first to get off the pontoon and erica
went back down to bed once we were safely out of the harbour and
sailing towards padstow. Erica or Josie will take over from roger at
about 04.30.

The sailing is currently really good, we have been doing 6 - 7 kts in
a nice force 4. There is a bit of tide with us at the moment, but we
are mainly crossing tides going in and out of the Bristol channel today.

Neyland yacht haven

2010-07-24T12:33:00.001+01:00

We safely made it into Milford haven and up to neyland yacht haven
last night. Arriving at 2am after two hours of spotting all the lights
to bring us safely up river. I'm not sure if it was a good thing it
was dark so we couldn't see all this mud surrounding us or if being
light might have made it easier to see the channel. Anyway we didn't
go aground coming in and found a starboard side to berth quite easily.
A long and tiring passage but very enjoyable.

Irish sea

2010-07-23T20:43:00.000+01:00

Well, we are now back on the welsh side of the Irish sea. We still
have about 5 or 6 hours left of our crossing from arklow, Ireland. We
decided not to go to kilmore quay as it was going to be 50 miles to
only save us 10 or 15 miles over to Milford haven.

We have been motorsailing a fair bit of the crossing due to light
winds but have had some really nice quite sails also. We were joined
by a pod of dolphins for several hours which was also quite special!

2010-07-20T09:09:00.001+01:00

We had another day off yesterday. It was very wet and a bit windy so
we stayed in carlingford marina. We met the local paper so hopefully
this will help spread the word of under funded brain tumour research
in southern Ireland too.

We went into carlingford which is a lovely village. The marina manager
drove us in, which was very kind as it was pretty wet! After lunch we
found a dry patch and made a dash for it back to the boat. It actually
started drying up then and got fairly warm (it is the middle of July
after all!). We got some more route planning done, Josie made the last
fender cover and we went to the bar to send some emails.

We left at about 7am this morning to get some favourable tide towards
Dublin (we will stop in howth or dun laoghaire tonight). We had
expected a 45 mile motor in very light winds, but after getting out of
the loch we have been under sail for over an hour. We doing 4 - 4.5
kts which is a little slow, but very relaxing!

Blogs might b a bit thin though southern Ireland as we got
intermittent reception, but we will keep updating where we can.

You've got to love a British summer!

2010-07-18T14:02:00.000+01:00

It's a bit of a wet miserable day here! We will be in the republic of
Ireland in a couple of hours, just realised we will need euros- I know
there are some on this boat somewhere. It's amazing how easy it is to
lose things when living in a space smaller than 10m by 3m!

Ardglass

2010-07-18T12:05:00.000+01:00

We had a fantastic sail from Bangor ni to ardglass on Friday. Started
fairly rough but we sailed under jib alone at about 6 kts with the
tide, as we came out of Belfast loch the sea flatterned slightly as
the wind was now coming from the shore. We got the main up and were
making upto 9kts through between the islands near donaghadee. Infact
we didn't really drop bellow 6kts all the way which meant we held
favourable tide all the way. We had had a fantastic day until we got
to the harbour enterance at ardglass and the engine wouldn't start for
the second time on this trip!

Josie kept nordlys sailing just off the enterance whilst I tried to
get it going. We were just thinking about sailing into the harbour and
marina when it finally went. It started several times but kept
stopping and eventually kept running. Once again we were concerned it
may stop whilst entering, so we kept the main up for as long as
possible. The engine did stay running but we ended up having to get
main down lines out and fenders over in a bit of a rush. We wanted to
keep engine revs quite high so we came into the marina pretty fast,
and not really ready which resulted in a bit of a hashed parking
attempt! We did finally get moored up with a bit of help from the
marina and a nearby boat so all was well.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to work out what was
wrong with the engine. The fuel filters were a bit black and gunky
which suggested this was causing the problem. After changing all fuel
filters and cleaning some of the hoses I finally got the engine bled
and running. I didn't really have time to b totally sure it was ok so
we opted to stay the next day to run it for a bit and be happy it was
sorted.

Ardglass is a very friendly place and the marina was set up as some
sort of community project. We were very well looked after and
surprisingly for a small town / vilage it had most of the bits we
needed (fuel filter etc).

Caledonia

2010-07-17T14:30:00.000+01:00

We met brian on caledonia, a princes gin palace parked opposite us. He
is quite a character, and we really enjoyed meeting him and being
plied with alcohol! Thanks brian.

On thursday morning we went into Belfast and took a tour bus around
the city. It was very interesting to see and learn about the place
first hand. We got back just after lunch to meet the guys at
brainwaves again, Inc Elaine who is a braintumour survivor of over
10yrs after what sounded like some quite novel surgery. Although we
didn't manage to meet the press first hand on Thursday afternoon, we
gather we made the front page on Friday!

14th July -Meeting brainwaves

2010-07-17T14:01:00.000+01:00

After a good sail across Belfast lough we arrived into Bangor marina
mid afternoon. We had an incredibly warm welcome from Maggi and Kate
of Brainwaves NI that evening with a meal at one of the local hotels.
The work that they do voluntarily to support people with brain tumours
and their families is amazing.

False start to Bangor.

2010-07-14T14:51:00.001+01:00

We left glenarm this morning for the second time today at about 11.30
(the first time we left the sea was really quite rough and confused so
we turned back!) we are on the way to bangor ni and it has been very
wet! We motor sailed the first section to get upwind and make the most
of the last of the favourable tide, but hav been able to switch it off
and Josie has been enjoying a really good sail. As it's raining again,
the helm has been passed to the crew (tony) as is customary!

We should arrive in Bangor in the next hour. We are pleased to hav had
a good sail as we were due to arrive in Bangor tomorrow, but the
forcast is for no wind, so we were all keen to get on and then enjoy a
day off.

Arrival on the emerald isle

2010-07-13T20:26:00.000+01:00

We left lamlash this morning bound for a long passage across the north
channel to Glenarm in Co. Antrim. The promised wind took a long time
coming so we spent much time either sailing at about 2 knots or motor
sailing. It did fill in after lunch (a feast of freshly caught
mackerel) although not from the forecast direction so we got a good
sail in the end. Time for a quick pint of the black stuff before
turning in for the night.

Mackerel for dinner

2010-07-12T13:19:00.000+01:00

Look what we've got! Anyone know what mackerel is like in fish pie?
Other recipe suggestions welcome!

Arran

2010-07-12T12:39:00.000+01:00

We may only sailing at 3 kts but we are getting to enjoy some amazing
scenery on Arran.

(still no fish!)

Sailing in the sun

2010-07-12T11:40:00.000+01:00

We are sailing to lamlash on Arran. Great weather today, a little more
wind would speed up our progress but generally it's quite lovely. We
plan to pick up a visitor mooring in lamlash bay tonight. Still no
fish despite efforts from rods and lines! I think some bait would help
but without a fridge it would get a bit stinky.

East loch tarbert

2010-07-11T21:41:00.000+01:00

We arrived at east loch tartbert at about 1945 after a lovely sail
down loch fyne. It has turned out to be a lovely evening (once the
midge repellant was applied) and we are enjoying sitting out in the
cockpit with a G&T.

Back on the open sea!

2010-07-11T18:00:00.000+01:00

The sun came out after lunch and we whizzed down the rest of the lochs
(via a supermarket in loch gilphead) after developing quite a knack
for it. We exited the sea lock at about 1730 and are now heading down
loch fyne towards east loch tarbet. Having had strong winds all day
this sunshine has brought with it rather calmer weather, with wind
from various directions!

DIY locks

2010-07-11T13:10:00.001+01:00

Tony joined us last night in the rain. It was still raining when we
woke up this morning. We gave up waiting for it to clear up and set
off up the last couple of locks in the rain. Roger stayed aboard
nordlys drove and did the lines whilst tony and I ran around opening
and closing gates and sluices. We have now started coming down the
other side and have stopped for lunch in a pub in cairnbaan. Now we
are inside it has stopped raining!

2010-07-10T10:38:00.000+01:00

Having a lovely sail down loch craignish. No fish yet!

Pipes and fishing

2010-07-09T20:25:00.000+01:00

Fingers crossed the diesel leak is fixed as it was ok this morning.
Hopefully we have now eliminated the cause as well as roj discovered
in Oban there was sea water dripping on the engine. It was coming from
an overflow hole in some pipe taking sea water from the engine. So we
spent the afternoon fitting bits of hosepipe. While we were at it we
also replaced the pipe that goes from the water filler to the tank.
We've not used it as it was so grimey it used to make the water horrid
and instead used to fill up with water with a hose through the saloon,
this is much more civilised. So hopefully the afternoon was more
successful than this evening is likely to be.... Roger is fishing!

In early at Ardfern

2010-07-09T16:33:00.001+01:00

We arrived at ardfern yacht centre at about 0830 this morning having
left Oban at 0430. It was wet and visibility was poor but the sea was
flat and the wind much calmer than the last few days. We motored down
the sound of kerrera with very little wind and then put sails up once
the wind picked up. It continued to be fairly variable though so we
motor sailed much of the way. There are incredibly strong tides
through the sound of luing and dorus mor so timing was key(hence the
early start). Our speed increased from around 6 knots to 10.3! The
water was very disturbed swirling and rippling. Once through the
strong tides we had a brilliant sail up into loch craignish, where
after breakfast we had a well deserved snooze until lunchtime!

Entertainment on a wet day!

2010-07-06T20:13:00.000+01:00

Not much to report today as we have stayed put in Oban marina. Roger
scavenged an impellor bolt from the engineers here and fitted that and
investigated various dribbles from the engine area. I made 5 fender
covers. We have 7 fenders but I ran out of material!

Over the Rainbow / Wonderful world

2010-07-05T20:51:00.001+01:00

Josie and i bought Scalby schools version of "Over the Rainbow / Wonderful world" this morning. It has been released to raise money and awarness for brain tumours by Ellie's Fund (part of Brain Tumour Research). If more than 4000 people buy it this week it could get in the charts and have a good impact on Brain Tumour awarness.

It costs 79p and can be bought through amazon or itunes, it is a really nice song so is a very good use of 79p!

Safely in Oban marina

2010-07-05T16:03:00.000+01:00

We arrived safely in Oban marina which is actually on the isle of
kerrera. The marina has very kindly offered us free berthing. Had a
bit of a drama coming in with roger dropping a fender over board. It
was good practice for our man over board drill though. There was then
a boat in the space we'd been directed to so we had to do a quick
switch of sides with the fenders and mooring lines. Josie then made a
bit of a hash of parking (to be fair it was quite windy). We are now
on the ferry to the mainland.

Sailing

2010-07-05T13:40:00.000+01:00

We are having a really good sail today. We still have no4 up (hanked
on the inner forstay) and one reef in main. Heading for Oban, should b
there within an hour. About to eat some risotto for lunch though.

All going well

2010-07-05T12:04:00.000+01:00

All is going well so far, we are well on the way to Oban just about to
pass inside shuna island. Sailing well with one reef and the number 4.
Drinking hot chocolate to keep us warm in this miserable weather.
Apparently it's been hot and sunny down south!

Back on the move again

2010-07-05T10:42:00.001+01:00

We enjoyed a very comfortable night last night and after a swim and a
full English breakfast this morning we have set off for Oban. The wind
is down to a force 5 now so much more bearable. It is forecast to
pick up again tomorrow but we should make Oban before it does.

Glad we are not onboard tonight

2010-07-04T21:25:00.001+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1y_Ktly0tQ

storm force 10!

2010-07-04T21:24:00.001+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaB0EnNTLgw

Photos of the western isles

2010-07-04T18:19:00.001+01:00

Stormy Sunday

2010-07-04T17:36:00.000+01:00

It's difficult to photograph wind but this is the view from our hotel
room.

Where's the windsurf kit when you need it?!

get a song into the top 40 charts for Brain Tumour Research

2010-07-04T13:10:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone,

Can you help us help Ellies Fund get their song into the top 40 next week?(see email below) it can be downloaded from itunes or Amazon (search Scalby school)

If we can help get this song to the top 40 it would be fantastic. Ellie's Fund have helped Josie and i with publicity when we arrived in Scarborough and we will definitely be buying a copy.

Thank you,

Roger and Josie

Dear All

Can you spare 79p?

Ellie Othick Bowmaker died on Valentine's Day this year of a brain tumour at the age of 14. During her short life she raised over £25,000 for charity.

The pupils and staff at Scalby School in Scarborough (where Ellie was a pupil) have been inspired by Ellie to record a song for Ellie's Fund (www.elliesfund.com) which raises funds for children's brain tumour research. It will be released on 5 July on Itunes and Amazon (search Scalby School) and will cost 79p. If 4,000 copies are sold in one week then Somewhere over the Rainbow/It's a Wonderful World should make the Top 40.

Watch the video on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheScalbySchool It is very moving.

Please can you help by buying the song on 5 July and also can you forward this to all your contacts and ask them to do the same. This way we could actually make news by getting the song into the charts.

Many many thanks

Liz

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safe on a mooring in Kentallen

2010-07-04T12:24:00.001+01:00

We got back onto a mooring yesterday in Kentallen. We have actually opted to get off the boat and stay in the hotel here tonight. Storm force 10 didn't sound too enjoyable on the boat! We have a really good view of Nordlys though so we can keep an eye on her. Photo to follow!

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Aborting planns for Oban

2010-07-03T12:56:00.000+01:00

It's gusting force8 alreAdy today and 16 miles upwind to Oban . We are
making really slow progress and it is crazy windy so we are heading
back to the nice hotel at kentallen

Loch leven

2010-07-03T11:48:00.000+01:00

We are just leaving loch leven, going under the fairly low bridge
again! We have really enjoyed our stay on the lochaber watersports
pontoon. And found the facilities including pool and sauna really
nice, thank you. We would thoroughly recomend a stop here to anyone
else.

We are heading to Oban today, before the wind gets crazy tomorrow!

Loch leven

2010-07-02T12:24:00.000+01:00

We have motored 5 miles round the corner and into loch leven. Came
under a bridge with 16 m HAT clearance. We calculated that at high
tide now we would have about 3 m above the top of our mast - it felt
pretty close! We have moored on a pontoon at lochaber watersports, it
feels strange being attached to land after all these moorings and
anchorages bit nice to not have to climb into the dinghy to get to
shore.

We believe there is a shop here so we can replenish our rather
dwindling supplies of anything fresh hopefully, although then we won't
have such a good excuse for eating out!

Sailing away from the force 8 gale!

2010-07-01T13:20:00.000+01:00

We are currently under jib alone, one reef, sailing at 6.2kts in wind
gusting 38kts! We are heading up loch linnhe to kentallen to find
another pub and restaurant with pool and sauna!

On land

2010-07-01T13:16:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we sailed to port appin to stay on a mooring outside a pub
and restaurant. We went ashore for a short walk to this arch, and had
a very nice burger and fishermans pie!

The sail started off very nice with a short beat down the sound of
mull. We were expecting to bear off in stronger winds down loch linnhe
but it followed us round staying dead ahead. Wind promptly dropped to
nothing and we were forced to motor! The forcasted 7 didn't arrive
until over night!

Lunch

2010-06-29T16:05:00.000+01:00

After motoring most of the morning, we stopped on the nw side of mull
for lunch. No sharks around here so Josie got off for a swim!
Although I think she was a little disappointed.

The wind has pick up a little so we have the crusing chute up and
sailing into the sound of mull. We hopeing to get to loch aline, but
I suppose we will have to choose between sailing, loch aline or just
arriving quite late.

Going to Coll

2010-06-28T14:11:00.001+01:00

We are motor sailing towards Coll (island next to tiree). We are
hoping to find a mooring buoy there to use before sailing back to mull
tomorrow. Weather doesn't look great in a few days time so we are
going to find somewhere sheltered to spend a few days. Jos has found
some moorings which allow visiting yachts to use a swimming pool, and
sauna! So might head there!

We have seen a pod of dolphins earlier and have just seen a shark! (we
don't actually know what the latest was but it had two fins)

Chute down!

2010-06-26T15:02:00.001+01:00

We have dropped the cruising chute now as we are approaching the bend
in the sound of mull. We have found the wind to funnel round here
before so have opted to drop it before any problems occur!

Playing the chute!

2010-06-26T14:44:00.000+01:00

Now we are fairly convinced the wind isn't on the nose through the
sound of mull (as it has been last time, fairly surprising!) we hav
got the cruising chute out. Boat speed picking up from about 4kts to
5, sometime 6.

Sailing again!

2010-06-26T12:45:00.000+01:00

We are sailing again! Left dunstaffnage An hour ago. Nice reach
over to the top of lismore, we are about to turn down towards the
sound of mull. Tide is slack about to turn in our favour.

Back on board in Oban

2010-06-25T19:12:00.000+01:00

We arrived back in dunstaffnage marina late last night. This morning
we met mike and lin from brain tumour action and did an interview for
the Oban times with them on the boat. Mike then dropped us in to Oban
so we could do some food shopping. We decided not to go anywhere this
afternoon and instead fixed the exhaust ( some sealant to stop water
coming in when we motor) and hopefully the diesel leak (small amount
of diesel has been dripping under the engine where a pipe looked a bit
dodgy- we got the parts from beta and roger has now replaced the pipe.)

I have made a blind for the roof light to stop roger moaning at 5am
each morning but we are yet to see if it is successful!

This afternoon we met Anthony from Alcyone, another contessa 32
sailing round Britain (who we met in lymington just as they started!)
and we are popping round for drinks on board after dinner.

Viva success!

2010-06-23T15:52:00.001+01:00

Roger had his phd viva this morning and has passed with some
corrections. Just having a few beers to celebrate and will be heading
back up north to nordlys tomorrow. Our sailing challenge will resume
on Friday!

Photos Amble - Oban

2010-06-21T20:22:00.000+01:00

Off home we go!

2010-06-13T17:40:00.000+01:00

We sailed downwind to loch aline yesterday and stayed in our favourite
anchorage.

This morning we motored back over to dunstaffnage in the mist and
rain! It has now brightened up into a nice evening and we are sitting
at Oban bus stop waiting to start our 17 hour bus tour of the UK!

The bus journey is going to be a bit of an epic but we've really
enjoyed the extra few days we've had.

Tobermory

2010-06-12T13:10:00.000+01:00

Spent a night on a mooring in Tobermory. We went for a walk through
rhododendrons and woodland to a waterfall in aros bay this morning.
It's really bright and sunny today which we've been enjoying after a
rather damp day yesterday.

The wind is forecast to come round to the SE so to avoid passing back
through the sound of mull with the wind on our nose again we have
decided to head off now while it is still northerly. Will keep you
posted on where we end up!

Misty Mull

2010-06-11T11:43:00.000+01:00

We knew the sunny weather in Scotland wouldn't last long!

We had a very peaceful night at anchor in loch aline and we are now
tacking up the sound of mull towards Tobermory.

Dunstaffnage bay

2010-06-10T10:42:00.000+01:00

We arrived in dunstaffnage yesterday lunchtime after a good sail from
linnhe. Roger's parents have started the long drive home but with such
beautiful weather forecast we have decided to stay until the weekend.
Before we set off for loch aline or Tobermory we need to stock up with
supplies and work out how we will get home. A train fell on the road
last week meaning both are closed, but we hope the bus is diverting.

Dullens bay

2010-06-08T18:37:00.000+01:00

We have picked up a mooring buoy in dullens bay at linnhe marine. We
didn't hit that rock!

It's really quite pleasant doing 10-15 mile passages instead of 40 or
60 (none of this getting up at 5am!)

We've got the music playing and roger is cooking meatballs for dinner,
very civilised.

On the west coast!

2010-06-08T16:38:00.000+01:00

We are out of the canal and sailing downwind towards Oban. We will
stay on a mooring at linnhe marine tonight in dallens bay.

Dad has just spotted a ROCK on his gps, we will keep you posted as to
whether we successfully sail round it.

2.2kts wasn't fast enough

2010-06-07T12:02:00.000+01:00

It was very relaxing but not fast enough so up goes the cruising chute!

Sailing down loch lochy

2010-06-07T11:34:00.000+01:00

We are sailing slowly at 2.2 kts down loch lochy. It's nice to not be
in a hurry to get somewhere to meet a tidal gate, or to get to port at
hw. Very relaxing! I'm wondering what inspired the name for this loch?

Highest point

2010-06-07T10:06:00.000+01:00

We are at laggan locks, 30m above sea-level. Our highest point of the
trip. Not what nordlys is used to... I hope she isn't scared of heights!

Up the locks

2010-06-06T15:45:00.000+01:00

This morning we opted for the second slot for going through the locks
at fort Augustus. Josie and dad went ashore to take lines and mum and
I brought the boat round. Once in the first lock dad and josie walked
nordlys through each lock, with a bit of help from the engine to get
her going and help stop.

Loch ness

2010-06-06T15:40:00.000+01:00

No sign of the monster!

Mum and dad (phillips) met us on friday and yesterday we sailed some
of loch ness and motored the rest. There started with no wind so we
decided to anchor for a few hours. We laid the anchor down but it
didn't seem to bight! With a fair amount of chain we weren't moving so
we settled down to taking the boom apart and playing with the single
line reefing.

Later on we continued to spend the night at fort Augustus.