Becoming not waving but drowning

[cjm]

My parents use to keep our boat at Loch Melfort, across from Kilmelford, was about 18 years ago though!

[pete]

Which is your boat at Rhu? Do you know Hinerangi? The wooden sloop? It's my father in law's. Think it's on a pontoon at the moment but could be out on a mooring. I have sent him a text and waiting on a reply as he has been through the Crinnan a few times.

Not mine, just get to use it sometimes. It's Mary J - Iroquois catamaran. Slightly scruffy. OK very scruffy.

Any advice for the canal would be ace. Millie (6) is very excited at the prospect but so far our sailing adventures have not been an absolute success. The plan is to take four days to try and get to somewhere and go via the canal (so Millie has lots to do rather than just colouring in)...


Spent last night going through charts and worrying...

[colintinto]

The canal is surprisingly hard work - and can also be quite stressful. Shoving the gates open and closed takes a fair bit of effort.

Going up locks can be quite scary, especially if you're sharing the lock - let the water in as slow as you can to start, as the turbulence can bounce the boat around. Make sure she's well fendered, and if you have the crew, have one person on the helm ready to control the boat on the throttle, as well as one fore and one aft to control the warps. Have seen guys do it single handed, which is very impressive!

Going down the locks is generally ok, you just have to watch your warps have plenty of slack or you can end up hanging by the wall...

One of the hardest things I found was if you are coming up to a lock or bridge and it's closed, and you have to wait, it can be really tough keeping the boat in one place, especially if there's a bit of a wind, and your boat is a nightmare to reverse (ours was). The banks are quite soft though...

Watch your timing too, aim to start through the canal as early as you can, as it does close, and then you're stuck overnight.

If there's space - stick Millie's bike on board and she can cycle the canal while you sail it

Making me miss my old boat now - kids are 5 and 3, so maybe get another in a few years.

Colin

[H8OAG]

Theres a question I never thought I'd see on SE...

I haven't laughed so much in a long time.............

[Titanium S1 111S (gla)]

The canal is great fun but if it is your first time I would recommend a crew of not less than three and more if you can find extra volunteers. We have had a few issues with the depth over the years but you should be OK with a multi hull.

[cjm]

I agree the canal is great fun, must have done it at least 15 as a kid.

[pete]

Thanks for all the advice folks, there will be 5 of us on the boat so plenty crew, just need to confirm that we can get there in the time we have... (and then get everyone to agree!).

[Titanium S1 111S (gla)]

Where you going and how long you got?

[pete]

Feel I should update this after the number of kind offers of advice I got.

We decided to moderate our plans somewhat as the forecast was poor so we gave up on the idea of the Crinan Canal and decided to head for Rothesay and see how we got on. We overnighted in Rothesay and then decided to head for Kames in the West Kyle. The forecast was 20-25 knots.

All went well, although we got a small rip in the headsail on day 1 which we fixed.
Day 2 started ace, tacking up the East Kyle to the Burnt Islands we were keeping up with the monohulls and having a grand time. Perfect weather, strong breeze boat making 7-8 knots.

All the other boats put in at Tighnabruich but we decided to carry on and see how far we could get. Met another boat coming the other way, sails down motoring.

It was shortly after this that the wind picked up a bit and we lost the headsail completely. Beam reach, 3 reefs in the main, 7-9 knots. Quite big waves which we are driving down. Errrm getting bigger. Our engine is sh*t and is not going to give us a way out.
Mild panic set in amongst the Skipper and Chief Navigator. Brief argument about who was actually the Skipper ("I'm not in charge!" "Well it's not me this was your idea" etc).
Severe panic set in amongst the crew. ("We are going to drown. This is a Force 8 and we are f.ucked." The crew had been reading her RYA 'introduction to sailing' book and was suddenly an expert. She was also warming up CH16 on the wireless).

Anyway made it. All fine. Cleared the bottom of Bute and came straight home.

All good. We lived! Boat is fine, well except for the genoa. And on the next trip one of the rudders failed which I feel is not unconnected.

Prestwick recorded gusts of 49 knots that day and they are more sheltered than we were...

Ho Hum.

[bertieduff]

All good fun then!

If you're up that way again, Caladh Harbour, just above Tighnabruich, is a lovely little anchorage overnight. Always seems to have spectacular phosphoresence (sp?) on calm nights too.

If the weather is deteriorating it can be a better idea to cut and run to the pontoons at Tarbet (or Portavadie), especially in a southerly or westerly, rather than risk the lee shore of Bute, especially with a dodgy engine, and half a set of sails that won't point you very high

(By happy coincidence the pubs in Tarbert are pretty good too...)

With some decent weather the Kyles are as fine a place to be floating as anywhere in the world

[Titanium S1 111S (gla)]

Yup, i would have been in Tarbert blowing the froth off a few rather than having the froth blown out of me. Probably worth having the engine looked at, i wouldn't want to go out in a boat which i didn't feel that i could rely on. That’s not to say that you need to be kitted for ocean racing in order to head to Rothsay for your tea, just that you can rely on the engine starting when you need it. Oh, and that the steering and rig are in safe condition.

I’d rather drive a car which is a bit dodgy than be out on a boat which is, just my view.

[pete]

Yup, i would have been in Tarbert blowing the froth off a few rather than having the froth blown out of me. Probably worth having the engine looked at, i wouldn't want to go out in a boat which i didn't feel that i could rely on. That’s not to say that you need to be kitted for ocean racing in order to head to Rothsay for your tea, just that you can rely on the engine starting when you need it. Oh, and that the steering and rig are in safe condition.

I’d rather drive a car which is a bit dodgy than be out on a boat which is, just my view.

Yeah you're right. The engine just doesn't have the grunt to be any use in heavier weather so an upgrade is being looked at. It's not my boat but it is getting on a bit.
Still we survived! It's all experience. And in the de-brief we decided we made the right decision to press on, probably with the right amount of sail, probably for the right reasons so all good. Just a bit worrying at the time as we were outside our comfort zone.

[Titanium S1 111S (gla)]

Glad that all ended well, I hope it hasn’t put anybody off.

Is the engine an outboard? Lots of smaller cats seem to have them. Does it have the correct prop? It can make a hell of a difference.

If the sails were old then the chances are that the material (probably Dacron) had deteriorated with age / UV. Nobody’s fault, they just have a limited life.

Been in a few scary positions myself over the years but it has always turned out well. Nerve racking at the time but you learn a lot in a short period.

[pete]

Glad that all ended well, I hope it hasn’t put anybody off.

Is the engine an outboard? Lots of smaller cats seem to have them. Does it have the correct prop? It can make a hell of a difference.

If the sails were old then the chances are that the material (probably Dacron) had deteriorated with age / UV. Nobody’s fault, they just have a limited life.

Been in a few scary positions myself over the years but it has always turned out well. Nerve racking at the time but you learn a lot in a short period.

Yeah it's an outboard, running the right prop (as I had to replace when I borrowed it last summer and it failed). I think the shaft really needs to be longer though as it tends to porpoise (is that the right term?). We knew the sail was old, just unfortunate it decided to let go when it did, inevitable really though.

I was out on another pal's newish Jeanneau (which I am most certainly not allowed to borrow ) the following week and it is somewhat a different experience with all lines to the cockpit and auto helm etc...

[Titanium S1 111S (gla)]

Yeah it's an outboard, running the right prop (as I had to replace when I borrowed it last summer and it failed). I think the shaft really needs to be longer though as it tends to porpoise (is that the right term?). We knew the sail was old, just unfortunate it decided to let go when it did, inevitable really though.

I was out on another pal's newish Jeanneau (which I am most certainly not allowed to borrow ) the following week and it is somewhat a different experience with all lines to the cockpit and auto helm etc...

It sounds like a slightly newer "long shaft" (on you go boys) will be required. A few quid in that but not mega bucks by any means. I've also seen quite a few cats with an engine mounted on each hull, you could always move the old one over to the other hull as a reserve.