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April 4, 2008 Sailing Nightsong to Dublin
We arrived in Oban in time for a quick coffee before getting the ferry to the Kerrera Marina. Nightsong, a Southerly RS46, was just about ready to go once we had bent on the jib and Andrew, the boat’s owner and our skipper, was ready to go once he had briefed the three Davids. A communication strategy was clearly going to be required! Andrew had wisely decided not to night sail given the combination of cold and wind so our first over-night was to be Croabh Haven, some 20 miles to the south. We had a great sail with the added excitement of reaching and running through the Cuan Sound against a 4kt tidal rip. After a pint in the Marina pub, Andew proved to be as proficient in the gally as he was at the helm and we had a great evening meal. My culinary skills aren’t up to much so I volunteered to cook breakfast. Saturday dawned just a little breezy, but the forecast was for south-easterly gales at F8/9. Our target for that night was Port Ellen on Islay, 60 miles to the south-east. A beat into a force 8/9 gale was the plan for the day. So I suppose a full Scottish breakfast was a little foolhardy, at least it proved that way for two of us! That was a hell of a sail, especially when the rain lashed the helm driven by 40 kt winds, all at around 5c. By the time we got to the south end of Jura we had a decision to make. Turn back, run through the Sound of Islay and seek shelter in the lee of Jura or continue and hope that Port Ellon was viable. We went on. After a short time our decision was vindicated as the edge just came off the wind to make negotiating the harbour at Port Ellen doable, which we did. Only 3 of us ate that night! While moored up to the pontoon at Islay, an odd thing happened. We were sitting below feeling extremely thankful for arriving (I tried not to let the others see me kissing the pontoon) when there was a large bang that sounded like we’d been hit by something metallic. A quick dash on deck revealed nothing. But thankfully one of the Dave’s, still recovering from the trip in the forward cabin, said he could hear something going on in the bow. Another look revealed smoke coming from the anchor locker. It appeared that something, possibly salt water, had penetrated the control box which had triggered the relay switch to the anchor windlass. The anchor, being stowed, was clearly going nowhere, so the windlass motor just burned out in seconds. I guess there is potential for a fire in that situation, not something I would have relished dealing with earlier in the day at sea. Sunday dawned clear and calm as we set out from Isla. The wind gradually built up to produce a lovely sail through the North Channel and on to Bangor. With seasickness well behind us we visited a local Indian Restaurant for too much curry and beer. I just never learn! I woke up on Monday morning at 7:00 with the vague recollection that we had agreed the night before to head off to Dublin earlier to avoid a night sail and the worst of the forecast, variable 3-4 followed by a SE 7-8. We started her up and threw off the shorelines. when I turned around I noticed the skipper at the wheel in bare feet and PJs wondering what the hell was happening. Ooops! Sorry Andrew. We motored for 6 hours, then as the wind came up we sailed for 6 hours during which time we tried out Andrew’s new code zero genoa with fancy furling gear. That gave us another knot or two until it needed furling in stronger winds. A little later, as the wind increased to 20kts, the code zero decided to test our ability to drop it quickly by unfurling itself. The gale finally arrived, right on the nose as forecast, so we ended the day hugging the coast and motoring into remarkably heavy seas. We arrived at Howth Marina just north of Dublin at 10:00pm. Getting into the marina and onto the pontoon in that wind in the dark proved interesting. The harbour channel markers, which were completely obvious by day, were quite confusing in the dark and we learned that even the bow-thruster wasn’t up to countering that wind on the bow. We got tied up in the end without incident but it wasn’t pretty. Twin rudders don’t make for easy close quarter handling. Not to let us down the weather continued the theme for the trip. Wind. So Tuesday dawned with a howling westerly. Andrew decide Howth was close enough to Dublin so we ended the trip there. Nightsong would continue to the Solent with a new crew. The Saturday had been the most extreme sailing I had ever done. Even though I was seasick for a time, remarkably I got through it while we were still at sea. I have to say I believe the good old Stugeron, while not entirely preventing sickness, did mitigated things. I wonder if I would have been OK without the full Scottish breaksat. I mean I did leave out the black pudding. Nightsong looked after us well and is clearly a good seagoing boat. She took F9 with only two reefs! Albeit with the toerail well into the water, no doubt made manageable by the presence of twin rudders. Given that forecast, we probably should have made ready the 3rd reef in harbour beforehand, if not the storm-jib forestay too. All in all, a good decision not to night sail in those conditions, the Southerly RS 46 is a lovely boat, terrific crew (thank you guys), great trip. Lots to learn as usual. Oh and I consider my new Musto MPX gear well and truly tested now. It gets the thumbs up! The nice warm high collar works particularly well. David M Home More General Stories Search News Story Submissions Comments (1)
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As we left the Scottish east coast by car and started the climb over the Trossachs towards Oban, the snow on the Scottish hills was as a clear an indication that we were in for a cold trip, as the forecast was that it would also be wet and windy. I was glad I had invested in some new foul weather gear.
