West Scotland & Outer Hebrides

[Holby]

Good thinking, ..:-)

[MacG]

Dear People,

Coming home from the seatrial of NEALA I received the news that my mother is in a final stage of breastcancer and terminally ill.

It is therefore that I have to cancel any plan of joining the Malt 2012 trip.

I do not know what the near future will bring, so I will stay in Holland.

[Holby]

MacG, sorry to hear of your situation, I am sure you will manage other another year. Will send you my notes and pictures, to show you what you can look forward to.
All the best.

[MacG]

Thank you for your kind reply Mr Holby.

[Holby]

No worries, keep smiling. :-)

[Holby]

Well DD is now in Loch Linnhe awaiting the start of the Classic Malt Cruise. To get her there we took a leisurely 3 weeks to do it(Barmouth to Loch Linnhe) and we were surprised that we had just 1 night of rain. Very little wind and loads of sunshine, whilst southern UK had 80MPH winds and floods.
17 days to go....

[MacG]

It is blowing continuously - hard winds and lots of rain in Holland. I changed location and found a lovely and hospitable inland marina, where Neala is only one of the three sailingboats.
I have to diesel around 3 hours to get into the open waters, or about 5 to get to the North Sea.

Last week I lost the boom of the main mast due to a squall that hit us (Neala and me) fully in the flank.
The wooden support that carries the mast was blown straight away and main and mizzen fell on the gunnels, the boom of the main swept overboard. Winds of 100 kph or more were mentioned.

Later on I tried to dredge for the boom but no result. I live parly on the boat now and I feel very content. Insurance will cover the loss of the boom and meanwhile I have found a 2nd hand one from Proctor. Damage is reduced to Euro 500,-- counting the blocks as well.

[Holby]

Well, the Classic Malt Cruise, is over. It was a fantastic event. Weather was great only one day of rain... The cruising was amazing, hospitality was great, and wildlife was in abundance, minke whales, dolphins, golden eagles, otters, sea eagles, puffins to name a few.
Photo's to follow....
Dave