Guides and Trips
Trips
after 4 years of work to bring the boat upto spec ,the day arrived for our departure . the dream to sail my own boat to sunnier climes before old age takes a grip, and the money runs out .But drama ,high water fleetwood 10.30 am ,we call the guy who opens the swing bridge to let us through to the fuel jetty, no answer some one calls to us he wont...
We should have left on Friday but due to crew not being available we decided to leave on the tide at 5AM on saturday. Triagos was also going the rest of the Glasson boats having left on Friday. Crew was Sonny, Danny and Jason.We left at 5 into a N.W 5 or 6 and slowly beat our way towards the wind farm. Triagos had to drop her sails and motor as she...
The race began at 1040, with 12 boats on the start line. Penny diamond was first across the line. The wind was F1-F3 as we beat up the channel to Lune buoy. Misty, Rice Pudding and Penny diamond opened up a good lead, then Lopud and another small gap back to the rest of the fleet. The wind increases to F4 making for a great beam reach across the bay in the...
Not much wind this morning so I decided to make an early start back to Glasson to avoid having to use my not yet repaired engine - but where was the hippo buoy? I managed to get the mooring lines off but Lopud was trapped - during the night she had somehow managed to twist the keel around the mooring. Chablis and Misty tried in vain to untwist her in the strong...
the weather was perfect with 3 - 4 SW Calm sea and Sun. A big thankyou for all boats taking part and a special thanks to all the organizers at Piel Island . Results; Race Start Time 11.45 1st Misty (Jack) 170.25m crt. 169.74 2nd Rice Pudding 139.47m crt. 170.08 3rd Triagos 201.14m crt. 185.89 4th Misty (Steve) 215.20m crt. 192.02 5th Jetwind 206.45m crt. 194.34 6th Chablis 215.40m crt. 208.43 7th Little Hog 247.00m crt. 224.13 8th Curlew RTD. 9th DNS....
After falling asleep quickly the night before I was awakened at 0230 with the wind screaming in the rigging and Lopud pitching around violently. Out on deck waves were coming over the bow as Lopud tugged at her mooring buoy the wind got up to 47 knots and remained at that for an hour until it suddenley stopped as if someone had flicked a switch. Ten minutes later it started again this...
The day after I arrived in Peel I moved into the inner harbour due to the weather forecasts giving strong wind warnings for the next few days. I occupied myself with doing odd jobs for local boats and Marlyn and Bobby kindly took me out on Manx sea quest a couple of times so that I could help spot sharks for their customers.I decided to change the diesel filters after my run...
We planned to leave Peel at 1530 when the harbour gate dropped for the 4 and a half hour sail round to Ramsey. This meant we would be able to carry the tide up to Point of Ayre which we pass at slack water and round into Ramsey bay whilst there was not much tide opposing us.As it happened we only got out of Peel harbour 3/4 hr before high water as...
I spent a week ashore in Quoile awaiting and then fitting the new shaft and bearing. I got Lopud back in the water last night and everything seemed ok. I spent the night on the pontoon and woke to gale force winds and heavy rain. By 1030 the wind had dropped to F5 and the rain stopped and out popped the sun. Around 1130 it was suggested to me that if I...
Florence left her mooring at Strangford at 0900 bound for the Isle of Man, Rice Pudding also heading for the Isle of Man left with the rest of the fleet 35mins before high water Liverpool. It was a lovely sunny day but unfortunately there was no wind, so Curlew, Sea Otter and Esmerelda motored up the East coast of Ireland.All went well til we reached Donagadee Sound. We arrived there just as...
Summer Cruise Trip 6 back to Portaferry
Raholp, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Sailing | 19.7 miles
Sailing | 19.7 miles
With Lopud safely ashore the rest of the fleet decided to head for Portaferry. It was a nice day sunshine and light clouds and a nice f4 wind from the south. I went with Curlew with Esmerelda following us to explore some of the Lough, Sea Otter went into the Lough fishing, Florence went to explore a castle on the Strangford side of the narrows, whilst the rest of the fleet headed...
Summer Cruise Lopuds trip to Quoile
Ardmillan, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Sailing | 19.5 miles
Sailing | 19.5 miles
After spending half the previous night fitting the new pump, I ran the engine for 2 hours, it remained at a constant temp and didn't loose a drop of water. One of the clubs members offere to take me out in his dinghy to see the sea otters feeding on the sea trout around the other side of Rainey Island which was quite a sight. I left the pontoon at 1400hrs and made...
Summer Cruise Trip 5 Quoile Sailing Club
Ardmillan, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Sailing | 12.2 miles
Sailing | 12.2 miles
We left Down CC at 1200hrs bound for Quoile Yacht club on the south of the Lough I was waiting for a new fresh water pump to repair Lopuds engine and so joined John on Curlew. We had a pleasant sail down the lough with only the odd shower dampening our spirits. We all rafted up on the small pontoon at Quoile. There was a beautiful green and yellow yacht already on...
Summer Cruise Trip 4 to Down Cruising Club
Portaferry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Sailing | 12.7 miles
Sailing | 12.7 miles
We decided to have a late sail up to Down Cruising club today so that people could have an explore around Portaferry, and visit the excellent marine life centre. Zoom left at 1315 bound for Conwy and the rest of us left at 1645. Within 5 mins of leaving Lopuds engine overheated badly due to losing all its cooling freshwater. When we were close to Down I asked if the other boats...
Ken proposed that we visited an anchorage off the Calf of Man that he had heard about. So after lunch we all boarded Zoom and Curlew and motor sailed down to the Calf in brilliant hot sunshine. Alan stayed aboard Zoom and John remained aboard Curlew whilst the rest of us went ashore in dinghies. The island is very beautiful and unspoilt and we had a good walk round, seeing 4 lighthouses...
After a keenly fought debate on what time we should set off (Hi Ken :-) ) the fleet left Potr St Mary between 0900 and 1000 hrs bound for Portaferry through the infamous Calf Sound. We had a fantastic sail to the entrance to Strangford, warm sunshine, F3-F4 wind either behind or on the beam and calm flat seas. The first boats arrived at Strangford narrows about 1500hrs just as the tide...
At 0500hrs on a very still and bright summers morning Sea Otter, Zoom, Esmerelda 2, Rice Pudding 9, Florence, Orla, Curlew and Lopud left the fish dock at Glasson bound for Port St Mary on the Isle of Man. We motored through the wind farm and through the occasional fog bank, only managing about 1hrs sailing with the engines off. The Isle of Man was not seen until about 1/2 mile off...
To begin her trip down to Portugal Cumulus needed taking from Glasson to Preston. Sailed out on the 8AM tide into F6-7 Westerly winds. The first 9 hours were pretty miserable slamming into the 3 or 4 meter confused seas, it was misty damp and cold. The sun came out the wind dropped as we entered the Ribble though.
