Boat jumble, birdshit & bullshit

It was Craignish Boat Club boat jumble this morning, so off we went to Kilmelford. Bought some shackles and (tempting fate but they were only three quid each) two charts for next year of Finisterre-Gibralter and the Canaries. The elderly couple running the stall had already been out there and done what we want to do - and now they had returned and sold their boat, the wanderlust (presumably) out of their system. Will that be us in a few years' time?

Also bought a few  blocks - something we were a bit short of. Kathy bought an enormous spinner in the hope that this year we will finally find something other than mackerel on our line. Just as we were leaving I spotted a tribuckle hanging on the wall with a price tag of just £15. It had obviously been mounted on a rail for some time - the bag was very faded - but inside it looked as good as new. As this has consistently been rated as the most effective MOB recovery device we snapped it up.

In the afternoon we decided to take all our new gear plus some supplies out to the boat so we would be ready for the off as soon as the weather improved. (School holidays, a clear two and a half week window for a circumnavigation of Mull, chart of the Sound of Iona and the Torran Rocks purchased). It was a beautiful afternoon, but with the weather forecast to deteriorate we decided to get the boat ready then make our holiday pilgrimage back East to visit friends and family in the hope that the weather would improve for the second week of the holidays. (Did it? did it b . . .)

So - I got on with stowing gear and doing a few jobs while  Kathy spent four hours scrubbing bird shit off the decks and from under the sprayhood. The previous Saturday, returning form our trip to Craobh, there had been some little birds sitting on Charlie's plastic gaffer onteh next mooring. K remarked on the 'sweet little birds', and there were three sitting sweetly on our dinghy. Obviously a migrating flock. Anyway, they certainly left their calling card.

While Kathy scrubbed I finally discovered the leak in the heads pump which meant the starboard under bunk locker was always wet. Dried it all out, but had to throw away our rusty Coleman oven which was lying in there. I also took the log out (always fun, even when you have the blanking cap to hand and are expecting the  fountain that shoots up into the boat) and cleaned it. It had three inches of weed growing out of it and was full of those little flea things leaping about and covered in a hard coating that had to be scraped off with a knife.

I did a few other jobs as well - replaced the dodgy topping lift shackle, stowed both non-bower anchor rodes sensibly in big buckets in the port locker and generally tidied out the lockers. We stowed all our new gear, including the huge inflateable orange fender (2m x 40cm diameter) I got on Ebay. We intend to use it as a fender board, but it may also be amusing to deploy it on approach to expensively occupied marinas and watch faces.

The irritating motor cruiser mooring saga continues. There is a nasty tatty old motor cruiser on a mooring next to ours. We were originally offered a mooring spot a sensible distance away, and  paid to have our mooring laid. We were then told it was in the wrong space as the Association had decided to squeeze another mooring in. When the mooring was moved we discovered it was too close to the MoBo for comfort and that  the MoBo swings around wildly (only a rope riser as well). We sustained some gel coat scratches last year that could only have come from this monstrosity, and now the mooring appears to have moved even closer to ours. The Moorings Association have written to the guy, but he apparently has no intention of moving it, bringing it up to spec or generally doing anything. The latest is that the Association have said they will move our mooring free of charge, but I don't know where we can move it to - there are far too many moorings in the bay now. Watch this space for the continuation of this saga . . .

10:22 PM - Apr. 2, 2005 - post comment