Apparently my nautical look wasn’t quite complete!
It appears that one needs a parrot to complete the piratical look. Although, I am not sure what Long John Silver would make of a 2ft lime green parrot called ‘Percy’!!
Shiver me timbers!!
Well it’s Christmas Eve and Santa Claus is about to come to town and I still haven’t documented the stats from the journey. Very remiss of me! So, I’d better watch out, forget the pouting bit and get on with the statistics from the adventure. I have made my list and I have checked it twice. So, now we can find out what was naughty and nice. Statistics are all being written down!
If you are not quite in the Christmas mood, this may help…
So, where to begin…
Nights on the boat 84
Distance travelled 2165nm
Fuel consumed 5910ltr
Time underway 260hrs
Average speed 8.3kt
Fastest leg Hull to Whitby at 15.5kt
Slowest leg Crinan canal at 1.9kt
Average Fuel Consumption 1.67mpg, 22.8lt/hr, 5.0gal/hr @ 8.3kt
Best Fuel Consumption 2.68mpg, 14.7lt/hr, 3.2gal/hr @ 8.7kt
Lowest Fuel Consumption 1.88mpg, 13.5lt/hr, 3.0gal/hr @ 5.6kt
Worst Fuel Consumption 1.24mpg, 42.6lt/hr,9.3gal/hr @ 11.6kt
We have found that our adventure has brought us many new friends and great memories along the way. So, I would encourage you all to plan an adventure for the coming year.
In the meanwhile, I wish you and all your loved ones a very happy and joyous Christmas and a prosperous and healthy 2014!
With best wishes from the crew of Skooty Alan!
And now…
Dag nab it! Or some such cartoon expletive. Time has rocketed past and no blog. Second Mate had a birthday, Spencer had a birthday (his second) and Mom had her 90th!!
It’s nearly 3 months since we completed the circumnavigation! And the statistics still haven’t been published!! I definitely need to get my act together. Maybe after this morning’s chores I will get round to them!!
We may go down to the boat for the first time in 2 months this week, to check progress on outstanding work and to bed Skooty down for winter. Not that we will leave her to hibernate, she is as comfortable to live on in winter as in summer. It just seems that time is as much an issue in retirement as it was when working!
Damn golf, is the same too!
The golf tour was great fun but my golf was disappointing. I couldn’t even reach the dizzy heights of aspiring to mediocrity! The wind made Gullane 1 a very difficult golf course, while I did my utmost to make it virtually impossible. Finding your ball in waist high rough is tough, hitting it is…
I find I am increasingly distracted by fundamental questions,such as; is there a god?; what lies beyond the universe?; is there life after marriage?; and why the hell do I continue trying to play golf? You can detect the level of my despondency because I went for a lesson at the backend of last week. It was a great success!
I wasn’t exactly hitting the ball like a pro but I was hitting it in the general direction of intent and it was further away from me after the shot than before! I am playing this morning and am filled, uncharacteristically, with a degree of optimism! No doubt that will disappear at some stage in the round this morning, let’s hope, at the very least, it is beyond the 1st!
I was hoping to finish the stats of the trip by now, but as usual I have been distracted. This weekend the whole family went up to the lakes to celebrate my Mom’s 90th birthday.
Not a bad view from the garden of a nursing home…
It was a great success. Dinner on the Saturday evening with my brother and his tribe and then retire to the Bower House Inn in Eskdale to recover. Sunday I collected Mom and we watched as the rest of the family enjoyed a trip on the Ratty – a narrow gauge railway that runs from Ravenglass to Eskdale. 7 miles of breathtaking countryside on a railway run by enthusiastic volunteers…
Spencer has decided he wants to be an engine driver!
Ambition achieved at the age of 2 years!
Final fond goodbyes and then off home with some great memories!
I’m back from the golf! Optimism bubble has been well and truly pricked by that great pin keeper in the sky! We started in fog and finished in pouring rain! As usual my game was up and down, but there was some small improvement. I guess I am paying the price for the best part of 5 months on the boat.
I’m writing this in the lounge of the Macdonald Marine Hotel in North Berwick. We are about to leave and head for Gullane where we are playing golf today and tomorrow – we being 23 members of Pannal golf club on a tour known as the Mariners.
Last weekend Sue and I were at the Lagonda club AGM where this year the club was celebrating the Rapier model. The setting was Heythrop House a De Vere hotel. We had a great weekend and the weather was kind…
Very impressive, don’t you think?
Golf didn’t go too well! I think 5 months sailing around the UK isn’t conducive to good golf!
The weather has been very kind this weekend too. Breezy making the golf difficult but interesting! We played Gullane 2 today and Gullane 1 tomorrow. But that is another day!
Every now and then you just know something was a mistake. The comment was meant humorously or unintentionally but the consequences are never what you expect. In fact, probably much worse. The results can be strained relations with your partner; serious damage to your relationship with friends and work colleagues; even war!
In my case the most recent example was a result of my waxing lyrically yesterday about the Rapier and how you need to look after and use older cars or they don’t work properly! Yesterday, I went to do some preparation for the weekend – this morning I am off to buy a new battery for the Rapier, and a second for another car!! I am not superstitious and I don’t believe in ‘tempting fate’, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed I don’t have any further problems!
I was reflecting last night, as I wrestled unsuccessfully with the new WiFi gear, on the adventure and the preparation and help I had from many people. In particular, I have mentioned Tim, Nick, and Scotty from KTK Prime on many occasions, Kingfisher Marine, DDZ Marine, Beneteau, Raymarine. I am sure there are others I have forgotten to mention and I apologise if you are one of the forgotten few!! But there is a smaller group of folk who made the journey possible and gave me the confidence to actually cast off from our berth in Portland and set sail around the UK. These are the instructors who prepared me for life at sea and gave me the boat handling, navigation and seamanship skills to survive.
I ought to start with Richard and Michelle Howell from Howell Sail. Richard and Michelle, through their online theory course and personal support helped me work through the rigours of Day Skipper, Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster theory. The RYA courses are a challenging, but very rewarding experience. The very tonic for study on long winter nights – when you get to my age there aren’t many other options! They certainly provide a challenge to the ‘little grey cells’ but they also hold the promise of adventures to come. What more could you wish for when the rain is pelting against the windows and the wind is howling outside in the darkness.
My next port of call for thanks is Mendez Marine. Jon Mendez, based on the Hamble, runs a great training school. I did my Day Skipper practical and VHF radio course with them. My instructor was Steve Tyler on both courses. We had a great week with lots of fun and learning and loads of practical experience. Jon even gave me some sound advice on boat buying! The fact we were on location for Howards Way did not achieve the level of significance that it now holds! But we did eat and partake of liquid refreshment in the Jolly Sailor. But Jack Rolfe wasn’t there!
My final instructor, other than the sea herself, was Dave ‘Crusty’ Saywell from Castaway Charters of Poole. I did my Coastal Skipper practical with Dave during September/October of last year. We went to Guernsey and Jersey for a week and had a great time. Even when we were storm bound in St Helier for 4 days. I guess it’s times like that you really learn to study the weather, looking for that window when you can get back home. We had some very smooth and some very bumpy seas and the exhilaration of coming back through the Alderney race at 16kts with a further 7 kts of tide underneath us.
I am very grateful to all these folk that helped me prepare, but First and Second Mate would like to pass on an even greater vote of gratitude!
Apparently, it is our last chance to influence where Richard III is to be reinterred. Should it be Leicester or York? Currently, the plan is to bury him in Leicester but you can sign an e-petition to have a debate in Parliament on whether it should be Leicester or York!
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38772
But,if you have an opinion, you must make it known today!! Personally, I don’t think poor old Richard gives a toss. Having spent the years since 1485 underneath a carpark in Leicester he is apparently more worried about the outstanding carpark charges!
Many folk are getting rather hot under the collar about the issue. I think my personal view is Parliament might spend its time on more fruitful subjects. Such as compulsory discounts for purchasing multiple batteries!
The WiFi is proving more problematic than I expected but other activities have got in the way of solving the issues and finishing the stats!
Yesterday we spent in Leeds celebrating the second birthday of Spencer, our grandson. It was a great day, but I’m not sure I had that much energy at that age!
Today I spent the morning at the Nidderdale Show, it is the last Yorkshire agricultural show of the year. It’s a major local event and this year the weather was kind. There are lots of activities, stall and competitions, but one can only take so much excitement. I left at lunchtime,before the lure of the Member’s Tent had time to entice me into a very unproductive afternoon.
So, this afternoon will be spent preparing the Lagonda Rapier for the Lagonda Club AGM in Oxfordshire on Saturday and Sunday. She is very pretty…
But, with the circumnavigation she has been a little neglected and hasn’t had much use this year. Old cars don’t like being underused, therefore, good preparation is important before the trip to and from Oxford this weekend. So, I must go and rub in some embrocation and pack her Sanatogen! The WiFi and stats will have to wait, again!!
We left Goodwood damp and bedraggled. On thing you can say about the British climate – it’s unpredictable.
Sunday was very hot and sunny, very windy and cold and for a while monsoon like. Well monsoon like if they had a monsoon season in the Arctic! Thankfully, we were enjoying a late lunch when the heavens opened.
But we did get caught by a mischievous ‘shower’ on the way back to the car. The journey from Goodwood to Southampton was under a dark, heavy sky with spray initially making driving particularly unpleasant. By the time we arrived in Southampton and checked into the Holiday Inn the rain had stopped but the threatening sky remained. Not a good omen for the England v Australia one day cricket match the next day.
The Holiday Inn Express, just off junction 7 of M27, is very pleasant with reasonable food. The beer unfortunately is typical chain hotel fare – flat and uninspiring!
The next day dawned dry with intermittent sunshine during the morning. We arrived at the boatshow at about 1000 and trudged around pontoons, tents and stalls until 1800. Second Mate was particularly taken by two boats, the Linssen Sturdy and the Aquastar 42′ Panoramic. She wasn’t too enamoured with the Linssen top speed of 9kts remembering our dash back to Padstow a month earlier. They are both beautiful boats with great sea keeping reputations, true live aboard capability and fantastic build quality – the joinery is particularly impressive.
A gentleman called Tony was showing people around the Aquastar. He keeps his own boat in Mayflower Marina, Plymouth and remembered Skooty Alan from our visit to Mayflower last month. As we were leaving the boat another couple stepped into the cockpit and overheard the end of our conversation. The new entrant promptly asked me if I was the guy writing THE blog on circumnavigating the UK! Fame!!! At this point Second Mate dragged me away from the scene, apparently my head was growing visibly and I was in danger of taking root and pontificating for the rest of the day! But, I am very grateful to my reader from Suffolk and his kind comments!
We were tired after all the walking at Goodwood, so another day of ambling around the boatshow meant an early night was definitely on the cards. The next morning I left for a second day at the boatshow. Second Mate had enjoyed the first day so much that she went birdwatching!
The weather was greyer and then the rain started, a light but persistent drizzle. I was chatting to the guys on the Beneteau motorboats stand when the drizzle became torrential. It continued to rain for most of the day and the boatshow customers thinned out noticeably…
This is the Sunseeker stand. On the Monday it was heaving, on the Tuesday it looks a little forlorn. The enormous video screen showing their boats in warmer climes being particularly ironic.
I found the perfect antidote to the weather. I sampled some of the malts on the Bowmore stand and felt much better! Although, I did end up buying two bottles. I also bought a WiFI/3G network system for the boat from WiFi Onboard – at a very competitive price. Now to see if I can get it working! After 43 years in the IT industry it should be possible! More on my IT experience in a moment!!!
After Southampton we headed off to Portland to overnight on Skooty Alan and check how the warranty work was coming on. We arrived about 2030, ate at the Cove Inn and trekked down a very cold and windswept pontoon about 2130. We suffered two episodes of Howard’s Way and then headed for bed!
Next morning was bright but cool with the Portland breeze reminding you that autumn is on the way.
Early morning tea delivered but no First Mate to walk today. A morning of chores followed by a chat with Tim and Scotty. A bacon sandwich in the Boat on the Rocks and an update from Nick on progress with Skooty Alan issues and we are done. Just the matter of 330 miles to cover on the way home. We leave at about 1230 and arrive home at 1930, a long day.
We unpacked and had a snack. I then had a phone call from Jex saying she thinks my email has been hacked. She is correct, most of my contacts have had an email beseeching them to forward me emergency funds. Not a bad idea if the money was coming to me, but of course it wouldn’t be! I knew immediately how it had happened, a fake BT email asking me to upgrade my software. It was clever but I should have been more suspicious than I was. I tidied up my email; removed the mail diversion and copying tricks; changed my password and security question. My Contacts file and Sent Mail file had been deleted. I spent until 2am recreating, as best I could, my contacts list but the Sent Mail has gone to that great hacking toilet in the sky. Bloody hackers!
A big chunk of Thursday was spent changing all my online passwords, just in case. It’s amazing how many passwords I found I have. I’m sure I have overreacted but it seems a small price to pay for the security and I probably deserve all the work for the complacency.
So, my Thursday plans were put on hold until Friday. This morning I discovered one of the pumps in the pond has packed up. So, today was spent removing the offending pump from the pond, packing it securely and posting it back to Oase. Their customer service is usually excellent and I hope to get a replacement soon. However, my plans for both Thursday and Friday have now slipped.
Will these statistics ever get published? Well not until I have had a play with the new WiFi /3G kit!
We are back on Skooty Alan! Well at least Second Mate and me are. First Mate is languishing in kennels at home for a couple of days, no doubt sticking pins in clay effigies of the rest of the crew.
I still have to post the damn statistics, which are done. Well most of them. But we have had a hectic few days. We travelled last Thursday down to Sevenoaks where we stayed with friends overnight and then the next morning Robin and I set off for the Goodwood Revival in his beautiful Jaguar XK150.
The Goodwood Revival is a piece of true British eccentricity. Over 3 days the event is a celebration of a golden age of motor racing, from the 1930s to 1970s, with beautiful cars and close, exciting racing. But it is also a themed party where the era is celebrated across the whole circuit, including spectators. The fancy dress runs from smart and elegant to wierd and absurd, but it is all fun.
From young and old…
Through bright and glamorous…
It’s not only the cars on the track that are in period…
But the law is always on hand to maintain order…
There are many distractions to the racing…
Including the air display…
The paddock is just pure nostalgia…
With the cars freely accessible…
This year there was a celebration of the all too short career of Jim Clark. There was also a Tour de France spectacle on the circuit…
With Sir Chris Hoy and other less well known riders…
Th racing was brilliant and enjoyed by a very enthusiastic crowd…
Although some spectators didn’t seem too bothered!
The racing was great entertainment, although it didn’t always go to plan! The tyre marks give a clue…
And some were downright dangerous and expensive…
After 3 days of excitement the Revival was over for another year and so on Sunday evening the Second Mate…
and I left Goodwood and aimed for Southampton and the Boat Show…
I left home at 0830 and headed for the Lakes to spend a day with my Mom. After her fall earlier this year and a few weeks in hospital she has been a little frail. But she now seems well on the road to recovery and is looking forward to her 90th birthday celebrations next month!
I posed a little teaser yesterday evening. What are the units that go with these figures?
81
Days – the number of days we spent on Skooty Alan after leaving Portland;
2165
Nmiles – the number of nautical miles we travelled on the journey;
2846
£ – the cost of marina fees and harbour dues;
8.3
Knots – the overall average speed we maintained for the journey;
260
Hours – the number of hours we were actually travelling in Skooty Alan. Approximately the number of engine hours;
42.6
Lt/hr – the worst fuel consumption rate recorded. This rate was endured during the legs from Hull to Whitby and then Whitby to the River Tyne;
13.5
Lt/hr – the lowest fuel consumption recorded, but not the most efficient. The rate was achieved from Kinlochbervie to Oban and included 120 miles of very slow speed cruising through the Caledonian canal;
3
Gal/hr – the lowest fuel consumption in UK units – a cheeky one!
Now I need to get on with the rest of the stats before we set off travelling again tomorrow. This weekend we are at the Goodwood Revival with period dress, exciting racing and the aroma of warm engines for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sunday evening we will be mooching over to Southampton to attend the Southampton Boat Show on Monday and Tuesday.
A busy few days ahead. So, I must get these damn stats done and there is the packing too…
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