Bangor to Campbeltown 21 August 2022

 

Setting off from Bangor at 08.30. Happy as Larry - how naive?!

Passing Islandmagee and Isle of Muck - still in blissful happiness 

We left Bangor at 08.30 to head for Campbeltown and the Clyde for a week.  With a fresh westerly the ride was rolley but not uncomfortable.  Having said that, some glasses and other kit ended up on the floor - we still have to get the hang of putting everything away or tying it down.

We made good time (to start with), until the port engine started coughing - it would lose power briefly then carry on happily.  However this got worse and worse until it gave up the ghost altogether.  Once we stopped the port engine we realised that the starboard engine was starting the same nonsense.  It gradually (actually quite quickly) got worse.  The idea of the second engine dying prompted a call to the Coastguard to let them know our predicament.  While we had any power they asked us to call in every 30 minutes to update them.  The end result was that the starboard engine would operate at 1050 revs maximum, giving us about 6 knots.  We limped into Campbeltown and were met by the lifeboat which escorted us in.  

We think the problem must be to do with fuel starvation - dirty fuel blocking filters, or the Donaldson filters being blocked despite indicating they are still good. We will start looking at this properly tomorrow.

Parked up in Campbeltown close to our new lifeboat friends 

We went ashore for a pint at the music festival in the square - the bar had floors your feet stuck to (memories 🙄!).  Then a walk along the shore.

A young Grey Heron fishing along Campbeltown shore

Our route:


A glass of red (Naked not Virgin) and a Massaman curry for dinner.  Life is not so bad. 














































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kinsale to Baltimore - what a day! 24 May 2023

Image
  Old Kinsale Head lighthouse  A very civilised start to the day.  We planned to leave our berth at 10.00 to make the most of tide, and because our destination, Baltimore, was only 4.5 hours away.  It was chilly on deck before we left, but rapidly improved once we started motoring. Leaving Kinsale by boat is dominated by Charles Fort - an impressive bit of military hardware first occupied in 1682 and now a visitor site managed by Heritage Ireland. Through the day we then passed a series of headlands, all of them wonderful to see, particularly this superb calm sunny day. Old Head of Kinsale where there is only access for the members (and their guests) of the Old Head Golf Club (where annual membership starts at €30,000pa!). Everybody else is not happy. Seven Heads - no lighthouse, but the remains of a watchtower.  Galley Head.  As we were passing the Mizen Head coastguard called us up on VHF radio (much to our surprise, and, initially, some consternation) to ask us to keep an eye out fo
Read more

Gola to Rathlin round the top 05 June 2023 updated at 19.10hrs

Image
  As we left Gola at 06.00 this morning  As we start the day, the weather could not be better.  Almost dead calm, sun coming up, no rain and cool but not cold.  Of course, what’s important on today’s trip is the sea state.  Rounding the west and north coasts of Donegal has always been one of our main challenges - it can be pretty rough up here.  However, as we start the day it couldn’t be calmer.  Fantastic.  The forecast is for the wind to pick up, but we hope we can get round Malin Head before it does. In the meantime, we’ve just passed Bloody Foreland on our right with Errigal just a bit inland, and we have Tory Island on our left.  We’re also passing a wee group of islands: (another) Inishbofin, Inishdooey and Inish Beg. Wonderful. Tory Island looking very close  08.00 Horn Head on our right looking splendid in the morning sun, with Dunfanaghy tucked in behind it.  Lots of Puffins. It’s got a bit colder (I suppose we are in the north now) with a gentle easterly breeze and a swell f
Read more

Gigha to Bangor the big leap 14 August 2023

Image
  Watching the 6am sunrise at Gigha Early start this morning to catch the tide.  We left Gigha pontoon at 06.00 with only the slightest of southerly wind, and no rain - all the rain had been used up while we sat outside having dinner yesterday evening. What a wonderful meal. Our progress south encountered an interesting array of sea states - all of them benign.  As we got close to Machrihanish we picked up an Atlantic swell that became quite lumpy, not rough but still the boat moved about quite a bit. Kintyre peninsula from the Machrihanish end. Beautiful morning.  Then as we reached the bottom end of Kintyre we encountered an area of quite rough choppy water - tide induced. This was soon followed by the rest of the Irish Sea which was dead calm, glassy calm for a lot of it. At the north end of the North Channel there was a 10 mile stretch that was thronging with seabirds in all directions.  Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets, Kittiwakes and Storm Petrels, totalling thousands of birds. Gl
Read more