Tuesday 18 August 2009

Tuesday 18th August

We set off on the final stretch of our expedition after having eaten a hearty fry up served by Starboard. Port were on first watch and Akanksha and Lucy were responsible for releasing the bow and stern lines from the jetty whilst Zuleikha and Akshaya protected the boat from scratches and bumps with their extreme fender skills. The visibility was “poor” which meant that Port had to keep their eyes peeled for any potential obstacles or oncoming vessels. The tide under us was very strong, reaching six knots, which meant that the boat was changing direction quickly, especially as we were squeezing through a narrow passage between two islands. Akanksha found it difficult to keep the boat on course as a result so our skipper, Mary, had to take over until we were out of the treacherous waters. Later on Akshaya gave the Port watch a scare whilst steering (“in the right direction”, she claims!) as the rest of the team noticed a yacht rapidly approaching Tenacity head on which caused many to “shiver in their timbers”. We found a quaint little anchorage called Puilladobhrain on the Island of Seil which was situated near the bridge over the Atlantic. We anchored here at lunch time and much to the bemusement of many of the crew, and the excitement of Kate, we met some of her family friends on another yacht. We had an unusually relaxed lunch of magnificent jacket potatoes which were accompanied by a wide range of fillings from smoked cheese to hamburger relish. Port then had a well earned nap whilst Starboard took their turn at the helm. However, whilst docking, Starboard were forced to call in emergency troops in the form of Port watch who were unceremoniously woken from their sweet dreams in order to lend a bit of muscle to help bring the boat alongside in the strong wind that had kicked up this afternoon. However, with the whole team in place the journey ended smoothly! We then had a mammoth cleaning session where the team discovered numerous hairballs, spider webs, piles of sand and ominous green fungi which had been living on the boat alongside us during the trip. Upon the suggestion of Tim, the ever willing Zuleikha agreed to scrub the decks with her bare fingertips. Once the boat was spick and span on the outside Starboard began to prepare tea whilst port went for a well needed wash in the Oban showers. Yet again a hard day’s work was finished with an even harder game of Articulate.
20 Nautical Miles

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