Working aloft

Colin had a wee trip up the mast during a recent calm spell of weather at Ardfern.  We were bringing down the wind instruments, which were to be sent off down south for servicing. 

 Careful planning is essential as you don't want to get to the top only to discover you left behind that one essential screwdriver, so all the necessary tools need to be assembled along with head torch, spectacles and of course a woolly hat, as it can be very fresh up there!

To get up the mast we use a bosun’s chair - a rigging safety harness with the addition of a plank or a rigid seat for added comfort during extended periods aloft. There are two loops: one for your bottom and the other for your back. The bosun’s chair is secured to a halyard and, on Moonshadow, we use an additional safety line, attached to another standing halyard using a prussik knot.  Along a tight rope, this knot slides when not weighted, but jams solidly when under load. 

It goes without saying that the person pulling you up the mast in the bosun’s chair should be someone who can be trusted. Good communication is vital, especially an understanding of the hand signals or instructions from the masthead, as sometimes, from 29 meters up in the air, things don’t seem quite so clear.  Fortunately, after 30 years of marriage we seem to have have this down to a fine art! 

Sail the Hebrides - cruising highlights

Sailing the Inner Hebrides - a wee video from September 2013

Hitting the Wall - Stone Skimming on the Island of Easdale

Easdale lies about 200 metres off the Island of Seil, which itself is connected to the mainland by the 200 year-old Clachan Bridge, the "Bridge over the Atlantic".   

The island has had a colourful history.  Between the 17th and 20th centuries it was an important centre for slate quarrying and had as many as seven working quarries, some being 300 feet below sea level. Together with other quarries on the neighbouring islands of Seil, Luing and Belnahua, the island gave its name to the famous Easdale Slate which was exported to Glasgow, Ireland and beyond.  A storm in 1881 flooded the quarries and the last slate was finally cut in the 1950s.

One of the disused quarries now forms the perfect arena for the annual World Stone Skimming Championships, which are held in September.  An assortment of prizes is awarded to competitors, in particular ‘The Bertie’, named after the event's founder, presented to the Easdale Islander who skims the furthest and 'The Old Tosser Walking Stick', for contestants over 60 with the longest skim.  The real champions can hit the back wall of the quarry with ease.

We visited the site in July and had great fun perfecting our skimming techniques (some more successfully than others!).  Nevertheless, it was agreed that with a bit more practice ‘Team Moonshadow’ might be a real contender in 2014.  For more information on Easdale Island, stone skimming and this unique event visit: www.stoneskimming.com.

The Shiant Puffins

The Shiants are a small group of islands lying some 4 miles off Lewis and 12 miles from the northern tip of Skye.  As one of the great bird stations in the northern hemisphere, the cliffs and surrounding skies are filled with guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes, shags and great skuas.  But what we really wanted to see were the puffins. 

Nearly a million of these comical birds appear from the oceans every year, taking up residence in cliff top burrows throughout the British Isles.  The puffins start congregating in the waters around their breeding sites in April and generally lay their eggs during May.  Throughout June and early July the birds are very active flying to and from their burrows with food for their chicks. 

Photo courtesy of J. Amies-Green

The puffins on the Shiants represent one in eight of the British total and 2 percent of the world’s puffins.  The islands are also the only place in the British Isles where the Black Plague rat exists in any numbers.

Moonshadow visited the islands during a trip to Barra and the Uists in June and we were not disappointed!  Despite their tragic-comic expressions, puffins are very approachable and we were able to get within a respectably close distance to admire their colourful tangerine feet, dapper plumage and rolling gait.  It was too early for the eggs to have hatched, but by July their parrot like beaks would be full of sand eels for the pufflings.  A good excuse for a return visit.

Winter work

Our winter at Ardfern is drawing to a close and it will soon be time to head back up to Dunstaffnage to start another season.

It's been a busy few months, with Moonshadow ashore over Christmas and New Year for anti fouling and underwater inspection.

Back in the water, the routine maintenance continues. A calm, sunny spell of weather allowed us to get the sails back on.  A whole days work which certainly beats going to the gym!

The engine room also had a wee spring clean last week. Our own Dan Macphail, armed with his lethal weapon, squeezed himself into all those inaccessible corners, getting very wet and greasy in the process.  All the hard work (and contortions) has paid off as it's fair sparkling now!

http://www.ardfernyacht.co.uk/news.asp

A Big End to a Busy Year

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

With the slipway modifications completed the largest boat to date was hauled up the slipway here at Ardfern Yacht Centre on Tuesday 18th Decemeber.

The Oyster 68, weighing in at around 'Moonshadow' operated as a skippered charter vessel by Colin and Pauline Taylor, moved from her winter berth here at Ardfern and was hauled ashore for annual maintenance. All works will be undertaken during the festive period with the boat being relaunch towards the middle of January.

Initiative launched to prevent Isle of Rum’s Kinloch Castle from falling into ruin - Heritage - Scotsman.com

Initiative launched to prevent Isle of Rum’s Kinloch Castle from falling into ruin - Heritage - Scotsman.com

Weel Kent Faces on the LIBS 2013 Sail Scotland Stand

HRH Princess Anne and Sir Robin Knox- Johnston visited the Sail Scotland stand at the London International Boat Show this week. 

[Photo courtesy of Isle of Skye Yachts www.skyeyachts.co.uk]

[Photo courtesy of Isle of Skye Yachts www.skyeyachts.co.uk]

Scottish Islands Explorer: One Man Road

Scottish Islands Explorer: One Man Road: Calum's Road on Raasay took one man ten years to build in the 1960s & 70s. It is now falling into disrepair and needs what it had previo...

London International Boat Show 2013

While we won't be at the Boat Show in person this year, you can share our adventures on the Sail Scotland stand, where one of the banners features Moonshadow anchored off the island of Scarp in the Outer Hebrides last August.

[Photo courtesy of Isle of Skye Yachts www.skyeyachts.co.uk]

The Sail Scotland brochure  also includes a wealth of interesting articles and information.  Pick up a copy at the show or request a brochure via the website: http://www.sailscotland.co.uk

Sunshine on Scarp

A gentle north easterly breeze greets us as we leave Loch Leosavay on North Harris. We had enjoyed a peaceful night, anchored in the shadow of Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, which now stands proud against the magnificent backdrop of the high Harris hills and a cloudless blue sky.

Our destination is the Island of Scarp, lying seven miles up the Harris coast and uninhabited since 1971. Scarp is an Old Norse name for sharp, stony mountain terrain, a description which befits the 2,500 acre island whose highest point is more than 300m.

In sparkling seas, we slip past Taransay, location for the BBC show “Castaway 2000”, then rounding the point at Huishnish, we enter Caolas an Scarp. A hush falls over Moonshadow’s crew as we drink in the spectacular landscape before us: turquoise blue waters, dazzling white sands and a tangle of wildflowers on the machair.

Ashore, we stroll amongst Scarp’s ruined crofts, a number of which are now undergoing renovation, and weave our way through the shore-side graveyard with its views across the kyle to Traigh Mheilein on Harris. This beautiful stretch of beach beckons us next and socks & shoes are abandoned as we make our way through the white surf to enjoy the crystal clear waters and the warmth of the sand beneath our feet.

Scarp was also the site of an experiment by German inventor Gerhard Zucker to deliver the island's post by rocket mail. In July 1934 he made two attempts at firing mail between Scarp and Harris. Despite the success of the second launch of the solid fuel rocket (which could travel at over 1000mph carrying thousands of letters), the project was subsequently abandoned.

24 hours later and anchored off Edinbane in Loch Greshornish, we re-live our Scarp experience while a gale blows through. Moonshadow’s saloon is transformed into a cinema for the matinee showing of the “The Rocket Post” which celebrates this fascinating story in film and showcases an idyllic Hebridean isle.

A Helicopter on Hirta

Our visit in August coincided with the arrival of the helicopter bringing supplies to the island. After a walk ashore amongst the cleits, the warden very kindly opened the shop for us to make a few purchases.  Then it was on to the museum to find out more of the island's fascinating story.

Spar Cave 2012

A few images of this year's visit to Spar Cave.

Approaching the Cave entrance 

The flowstone staircase

It's a steep climb

A careful descent by torchlight

Into the black hole!

A Longship in Loch Ailort

  
It's amazing the things you find on the beaches of Scotland and we couldn't help but pose for a quick photo shoot on this wooden longship which we found nestling amongst the rocks on the shores of Loch Ailort.  Anybody out there who can spread some light on what it was doing there?

Basking Sharks off Coll

It ain't over 'til the (slim) lady sings - Fingal's Cave 2012

Sunset over Duart Castle

What's the Story in Tobermory?

..............a spot of shopping, a bit of potential property development (the public loos on the sea front are for sale!), rounded off by a wee drink in the Mishnish (and the Rev Colin I M Jolly's lunchtime sermon).

Idyllic Iona

Guests spent a morning on Iona, visiting the Abbey and enjoying the gentle pace of island life. Landing on the white sandy beach at Baile Mor (Gaelic for big town!), the crystal clear waters are breathtakingly beautiful and it didn't take long before all shoes were off for a paddle!

Iona is the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. St Columba sailed from his home in Ireland  and arrived on the island in his coracle in 563AD. He founded the monastery that was to become the heart of the Scottish church in it's early years.

With a resident population of 125, the island is 3 miles long and a mile and a half wide and as well as being home to the medieval abbey and ruined ancient nunnery, it is the resting place of 48 Scottish Kings.