KEY LESSONS FOR US

Team:  Four is a good number on the water, and two cars and four men with four Catapults works very efficiently

PRE-PREPARATION     Charts: Detailed chart, and laminated passage charts (Right: laminated passage chart on the tramp deck)    Tide tables    Phone number of local boatman for rescue carried by all.    (Local advice essential for W Scotland:----tide times vary within a few miles!)

 PREPARATION ON THE DAY

 -- Get a good weather forecast.

 -- Confirm tide times

 -- All agree the passage plan at breakfast including options B,C,D

 -- No change of plan without consultation by all---so hard to do safely on the water unless team is small.

ON THE WATER

 --- We seem to average about five knots predictably (for planning.)

 --- Voyages of ten miles before lunch and ten after were very comfortable

 --- Stick together : if you do get separated stay in pods of two but reunite

 --- Fastest boat to go at the back, or the front boat rotates to the back

--- Agree who will lead into passages, harbours etc

Below: Beating carefully through the tidal gate, Dorus Mo (the Big Door.) Light wind, with the tide, so it is not yet revealing why it gets chart warnings showing disturbed water and steep seas.

 

IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG The helm is responsible for righting the boat Others keep safe observation nearby (unless helm is injured) Abandon the boat rather than risk a second capsize Right: "Scotland?---did it rain?"            " Not enough to notice"   The last hour of cruising. (It was the lightning all around us we noticed.)

A SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION!

 

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